AI coding platform HyperDev has won backing from European and UK investors for technology that helps users turn generated code into working software.
Investors cited its proprietary AI, access to an established developer community and a near doubling in user retention since the launch of its Guided Mode.
The AI company, which operates in Europe and South Africa, has developed a feature called Guided Mode. It takes users beyond asking a large language model to produce code, helping them work through the steps needed to build functioning websites, apps and online services.
This approach, combined with access to an existing developer community, helped HyperDev raise more than $1-million, which it values at more than R15-million, from European and UK venture capital investors.
“We backed HyperDev because they combine genuine AI R&D depth with a built-in distribution channel of millions of developers,” says Falk Albers, managing director at Reinsurance Intelligence Quotient and general partner at Loom Ventures.
“While most vibe coding tools are thin wrappers around third-party LLMs, HyperDev is building proprietary technology that makes code generation actually useful.”
Vibe coding describes the use of natural-language prompts to tell an AI system what software to build. The model then generates much of the underlying code.
Producing that code can create an impressive demonstration, but deployment brings a tougher set of demands. The software still has to work reliably, deal with errors and reach people who can use it.
HyperDev built Guided Mode around this gap. It provides users with a structured route through the development process and gives non-technical users access to developers who can complete more advanced work.
HyperDev chief technical officer and co-founder Piotr Sobolewski says: “Every AI coding tool on the market was built on the assumption that generating code was the hard part. We built HyperDev because we knew the hard part was what came after, and nobody else seems to be solving that.”
The background of its founding team gave investors another reason to look closely at the company.
According to HyperDev, Sobolewski previously worked at OpenAI and contributed to technology behind ChatGPT. Co-founder Riaz Moola previously worked at Google on AI methods that were later used in products such as Gemini.
Both founders also conducted university research into AI systems that help people understand and work with the output of large generative models.
The company’s connection with online coding education platform HyperionDev provides a distribution channel alongside the technology. HyperDev can place its product in front of people already learning software development, while giving new users a route to technical education when their projects require deeper skills.
That combination reduces one of the costs facing early-stage software companies: finding a large pool of relevant users from scratch.
HyperDev says it has grown to almost 100,000 users in less than three months, with people in 14 countries using Guided Mode to build mobile apps, online stores, personal websites and financial or education services.
The user number helped prove demand, but retention offered investors a more useful indication of whether the product solved a lasting problem.
“AI app builders are seeing high user churn, so retention is the metric that matters most,” says Kenne Loubser, chief marketing officer at HyperDev. “Since the launch of Guided Mode, we’ve seen a near doubling in the retention rate of users.”
HyperDev has not disclosed its retention percentages, making a direct comparison with other AI coding platforms difficult. However, an improvement after the introduction of Guided Mode supports its argument that users need help beyond the initial generation of code.
The investment case therefore rests on four connected elements: an experienced AI research team, technology developed inside the company, access to an established developer audience and evidence that Guided Mode encourages users to return.
The funding will give HyperDev room to develop the platform while AI coding tools compete for a rapidly growing audience. Its larger test will come as users move beyond experimental projects and expect the software they generate to perform in the real world.
Anton Moulder, head of product at HyperDev, says the company built the platform for people without access to large, well-resourced engineering teams.
“We built HyperDev for them, and the growth tells us we were right.”