Unpacking Vibe Coding — The Hottest Trend in Tech Right Now

Non-techies are building apps overnight. One startup just raised $200M to lead the charge.

Author

Shira Lazar
July 20, 2025

I’ve been keeping an eye on the coding trend for a while now, mainly because my non-tech friends casually mention things like “I built an app this weekend” as if it’s no big deal.

Meanwhile, I’m over here thinking… should I be doing this too?

I’ve been meaning to try it out myself, but with Lovable’s latest funding announcement, it now felt like the right time to unpack it. What started as a niche no-code tool has exploded into one of the most talked-about platforms in the AI era.

This week, Lovable raised $200 million at a $1.8 billion valuation, with a team of just 40 people.

So, what is vibe coding?

Vibe coding is like building apps or websites the same way you’d make a playlist or mood board—it’s fast, creative, and feels intuitive.

Instead of writing lines of code, you use visuals, simple tools, and even natural language to bring ideas to life.

Translation: You don’t need to be a developer to build something real anymore.

It’s lowering the barrier to entry for founders, creatives, and indie builders. You can:

  • Launch ideas in hours, not months

  • Test MVPs without a dev team or big budget

  • Build for fun—or for scale

From the outside, Lovable seems to have cracked the code on what the next wave of builders wants: tools that are powerful but playful, scalable but simple.

Big Tech Wants In

Amazon Web Services just announced Kiro, an AI-powered dev tool designed to do for enterprise teams what Lovable does for indie creators.

Kiro helps map workflows, generate tasks, and outline software specs before any code is written, pulling from Anthropic’s models and aiming to reduce “cognitive sprawl.”  CEO Andy Jassy says it could transform the way software is developed.

It’s part of a broader land grab across Big Tech:

  • Google just struck a $2.4B licensing deal to bring Windsurf’s team into Gemin

  • Microsoft is beefing up Visual Studio Code’s AI agents

  • The vibe coding wars are just getting started

Why This Matters

The $200M Series A raise and the rise of vibe coding tools confirm what a lot of us have been feeling: We’re in the early innings of the AI app boom.

And the platforms that make building feel creative, fast, and fun? They’re shaping the future of entrepreneurship, especially for those of us who don’t come from traditional tech backgrounds.

This also signals a bigger shift: the next wave of founders will look very different from the ones we’ve seen in the past. Backgrounds that once felt like barriers– non-technical, creative, self-taught– are now becoming superpowers in the vibe coding era.

Other Top Vibe Coding Tools to Check Out:

  • Lovable – The flagship vibe coder turning heads in Silicon Valley

  • Glide – Create mobile apps directly from Google Sheets

  • Framer – Turn Figma designs into fully responsive websites

  • Webstudio – An open-source, no-code Webflow alternative

  • Potion – Instantly turn Notion pages into slick websites

Exercise: What Would You Build?

If you didn’t have to worry about coding… What’s one idea– big or small– you’d try to build this week?

It could be:

  • A tool you wish existed

  • A side project you’ve been sitting on

  • A creative experiment just for fun

Take 5 minutes. Jot it down. Bonus points if you sketch it out or play with one of the tools above.

Reply to this email and tell me what you come up with– I’d love to hear.

Other headlines to check out:

AI

Creator Economy

Web3 

Keeping my eye on… Zipline AI

You Can Now Design a Luxury Bag Using Just a Few Words... and It’s Kinda Addictive

Here’s something futuristic (and fabulous): my friend Michelle Reeves just launched something wild with her company Zipline AI, and I had to share.

It lets you co-create designer pieces using just a few words. Literally, you type something like “candy pink power clutch” or “goth glam for NYFW” and boom, Zipline turns that into a luxe, high-fashion product concept, trained to stay totally on-brand with luxury houses like Gucci, McQueen, and more.

Brands are loving it because:

  1. It gives them real-time data on what people actually want

  2. It sparks scroll-stopping, zero-cost UGC

  3. It keeps everything brand-safe + commercially viable

You can try it now, and yes, it’s free. Create your handbag with the brands below and tag me if you make something spicy. Have fun!

What: Getting Started With AI for Executives
When: Thursday, July 24, 12pm-3pm
RSVP: Link here

Join this Lunch & Learn with Alicja Spaulding, 1:1 AI consultant and coach, for an intimate and personalized beginner-friendly intro to AI strategy for Executive Leaders.

To accommodate, they’re offering three different time slots for these small group sessions: 60 minutes each (12 pm at capacity, 1pm and 2pm still open)

Alicja is a marketing executive with 18+ years’ experience helping businesses and leaders turn change into a competitive edge.

 🎧 New Episode of The AI Download:
Slack’s CMO on AI Agents and the Future of Work

On this episode of The AI Download, I sat down with Ryan Gavin, CMO at Slack, to talk about what it really means to work alongside AI— like, what if your next teammate was a digital agent? Plus, he shared an exclusive feature being rolled out soon.

Special thanks to my episode sponsor PRophet – AI comms tech tools and services custom built for marketing and communication leaders looking to replace guessing with knowing. Learn more at prprophet.ai.

PRophet. Human Led. AI Fed.

We explored how tools like AgentForce are already being used inside Slack to help teams work smarter, not harder.

Ryan broke down how Slack is addressing significant issues like AI hallucinations by incorporating in-app citations for every AI-generated answer, and why their privacy-first approach is setting a new standard, particularly in light of the EU’s AI Code of Practice.

We also discussed how this technology is empowering small businesses, rather than replacing jobs, and how AI is helping people transition from “doers” to “orchestrators” of work. One stat that really stood out: since rolling out these tools, Slack saw a 233% increase in daily AI use, and employees are loving it, with an 81% boost in satisfaction.

🎙️ Listen now to get caught up on the AI headlines you need to know plus insights on future of life, creativity and culture.

“Every day is a new day to try something, take one more step forward, and do your best. That’s all you can do.”

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