Lovable, the Stockholm-based artificial intelligence startup riding the surge of interest in so-called “vibe coding,” has vaulted into the top tier of Europe’s startup ecosystem after a new funding round valued the company at $6.6 billion, according to people familiar with the deal who spoke to CNBC.

The round, which has not yet been formally announced, includes U.S. venture capital firm Accel, a returning investor that has become one of the most influential backers of AI-native software companies. Khosla Ventures is also participating, one of the sources said. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because the transaction is private. Forbes reported in November that Lovable was raising at a valuation of around $6 billion.

If confirmed, the deal marks a dramatic step-up from Lovable’s $1.8 billion valuation in July, when it raised $200 million. The new price tag means Lovable has more than tripled its valuation in a matter of months, making this its third funding round in 2025 and underscoring the intensity of investor demand for fast-growing AI developer platforms.

Founded in 2023, Lovable has become one of the fastest-scaling software companies in Europe. In November, the company disclosed that it had reached $200 million in annual recurring revenue, an extraordinary jump from the $1 million ARR milestone it crossed less than a year earlier. At the time, Lovable said users were creating roughly 100,000 projects per day on its platform, a figure that highlights both strong adoption and heavy daily usage.

Lovable’s core product allows users to build applications and websites through natural language prompts, without needing to write code. The platform relies on large language models from providers such as OpenAI and Anthropic, translating text instructions into functioning software. This approach has resonated with founders, designers, and small teams that want to move quickly, as well as with more experienced developers looking to speed up prototyping and iteration.

The company’s rise places it at the center of a broader shift in how software is created. Investors increasingly believe that AI-assisted development tools can dramatically expand the number of people who are able to build digital products, lowering technical barriers and compressing development timelines. That thesis has already driven eye-catching valuations in the United States, where Anysphere, the maker of coding tool Cursor, raised $2.3 billion at a $29.3 billion valuation in November.

Replit reached a $3 billion valuation after a $250 million round in September, while Vercel closed a $300 million funding round valuing it at $9.3 billion.

Against that backdrop, Lovable’s valuation looks less like an outlier and more like Europe’s answer to a U.S.-dominated category. Accel’s continued backing is notable in that context. The firm has emerged as a key conduit for capital flowing into “vibe coding” startups, having also participated in billion-dollar rounds for Cursor and for Thinking Machines, the AI company founded by former OpenAI executive Mira Murati.

Lovable’s July funding round already drew a mix of prominent European and global names, including Creandum, Klarna founder Sebastian Siemiatkowski, ElevenLabs founder Mati Staniszewski, and Synthesia founder Victor Riparbelli. The fresh capital further strengthens its balance sheet as competition intensifies and as well-funded rivals push aggressively to capture developers and non-technical users alike.

The company is also signaling global ambitions. While headquartered in Stockholm, Lovable is opening offices in Boston and San Francisco, a move that would put it closer to major customers, partners, and talent pools in the U.S. market. That expansion suggests the company sees itself not as a regional champion but as a global contender in AI-powered software creation.

The key question for investors will be whether Lovable can sustain its growth trajectory as the market matures and as large AI model providers continue to move up the stack, offering more end-to-end product-building tools themselves. For now, the latest funding round confirms that capital markets are willing to pay a premium for companies that sit at the intersection of AI infrastructure and everyday productivity.

In doing so, Lovable has become a rare example of a European startup reaching multi-billion-dollar valuation territory at speed, reinforcing the view that the next wave of globally significant AI companies will not be built in Silicon Valley alone.

Netflix is doubling down on the creator economy, announcing a wide-ranging partnership with iHeartMedia that will bring 14 high-profile video podcasts exclusively to the streaming platform beginning in early 2026.

The move sharpens Netflix’s challenge to YouTube and signals that video podcasts are no longer a side experiment for the world’s largest streaming service, but a strategic pillar of its growth plans.

Under the agreement, Netflix will debut new video episodes of the podcasts in the United States, with international expansion planned at a later stage. The deal covers all future episodes and selected catalogue content, giving Netflix a steady pipeline of long-form, personality-driven programming that typically commands loyal, repeat audiences.

iHeartMedia will retain audio-only rights and continue distributing the podcasts across iHeartRadio and other major audio platforms, preserving its traditional listener base. What changes fundamentally is the video layer: Netflix, not YouTube, becomes the exclusive home for watching these shows.

The lineup spans comedy, crime, culture, sports, psychology, and history, reflecting Netflix’s intent to cast a wide net rather than bet on a single genre. Flagship titles include The Breakfast Club with Charlamagne tha God, Dear Chelsea with Chelsea Handler, and My Favorite Murder, one of the most successful true-crime podcasts globally. Other shows such as Behind the Bastards, Stuff You Missed in History Class, and Bobby Bones Presents: The Bobbycast bring established, highly engaged audiences into Netflix’s ecosystem.

The strategic logic is straightforward for Netflix as video podcasts have become one of the most consumed formats on YouTube, often running well over an hour and generating significant advertising revenue. By pulling these shows behind a subscription paywall, Netflix is betting that viewers value convenience, production quality, and a single destination for entertainment enough to follow their favorite creators off free platforms.

That bet, however, carries risks. Many of these podcasts built their followings on YouTube’s open distribution and algorithmic discovery. Removing video versions from YouTube could reduce reach, limit ad income for creators, and frustrate fans who are unwilling to pay to watch content they previously accessed for free. Netflix appears to be banking on scale and global distribution to offset those losses, positioning itself as a premium home for podcasts that have already proven their appeal.

The iHeartMedia partnership builds on Netflix’s earlier deal with Spotify, announced in October, which brought video versions of podcasts from The Ringer, including The Bill Simmons Podcast and The Zach Lowe Show, to the platform. Taken together, the deals show Netflix is systematically assembling a portfolio of creator-led content rather than testing the waters with one-off experiments.

This push comes as Netflix works to broaden its identity beyond scripted series and films. The company has increasingly embraced formats that drive frequent engagement, including live comedy specials, unscripted programming, mobile and TV-based games, and creator collaborations such as its deal with YouTube educator Ms. Rachel. Video podcasts fit neatly into that strategy, offering relatively low production costs, predictable release schedules, and audiences that return weekly.

For iHeartMedia, the deal offers validation of podcasts as premium intellectual property, not just ad-supported audio products. By partnering with Netflix, iHeart elevates its biggest franchises into a global streaming environment while keeping control of audio monetisation, which remains its core business.

More broadly, the agreement highlights an intensifying battle over where the next generation of media consumption will live. YouTube has long dominated creator video and podcasting, but Netflix is now signaling it wants a share of that attention—and is willing to pay for exclusivity to get it.

The shows included in the partnership are:

• The Breakfast Club
• Bobby Bones Presents: The Bobbycast
• My Favorite Murder
• Dear Chelsea
• Joe and Jada
• This Is Important
• The Psychology of Your 20s
• Behind the Bastards
• Stuff They Don’t Want You to Know
• Stuff You Missed in History Class
• Stuff to Blow Your Mind
• New Rory & MAL
• 3 and Out with John Middlekauff
• Buried Bones

Netflix’s pivot toward video podcasts reflects a broader recalibration as streaming competition tightens and subscriber growth becomes harder to sustain: growth may come less from blockbuster hits alone, and more from owning the daily habits of audiences who tune in week after week to hear familiar voices talk about the world.