(Editor’s note: This post on London-based development platform Pythagora AI is part of Dispatches’ Tech Tuesday series. We cover tech because so many of our highly skilled internationals are founders and engineers.)
Gideon, Orqa, Photomath (the work of an innovative Croat who then sold it to no less than Google) … the list goes on when it comes to Croatian startups. The country famed for its coastline has been rapidly gaining attention for its blossoming startup and tech scene. Few could have ever imagined that Zagreb, not somewhere like Tokyo, would be the pilot city for Verne’s fully automated taxis.
I digress.
Croatia has been taking on a new character over the past decade or so and the talent this country boasts is evident. Another Croatian startup called Pythagora has been turning heads over the past few months, and with very good reason. Using artificial intelligenceI, Pythagora uses its platform of the same name to develop full-stack apps from one single prompt. Pythagora AI is the first complete AI developer that builds apps through natural language interaction.
Incredible or terrifying? It’s hard to decide.
A young startup that turned investor heads instantly
Now based in London, Pythagora.ai is a technology startup with Croatian founders, who launched the startup just two years ago, in 2023.
Leon Ostrez, Senko Rašić and Zvonimir Sabljić, entrepreneurs and engineers with extensive experience in software development and AI, are the founders behind it. Pythagora didn’t need to wait long before attracting the attention of global and local investors, including tech Silicon Valley tech accelerator/VC Y Combinator, Warsaw-based seed investor Inovo, Palo Alto-based seed fund 500 Emerging Europe and Photomath founder Damir Sabol. In May, 2024, the startup raised $4 million in a seed round with those funds intended for research and development capacities and for accelerating the growth of their user base. Pythagora’s investors include Y Combinator, Inovo, 500 Emerging Europe, Moonfire, Rebel, and Uphonest Capital.
Their first product was a developer AI tool called GPT Pilot. Croatian tech website Bug.hr reveals that Pythagora recently launched what they have been working on for the past few years. Their Pythagora platform was officially presented and promoted as the first comprehensive developer AI platform that allows users to create and run full-stack apps using, as stated, just one prompt.
The platform is intended for both technical and non-technical teams, combining frontend and backend development with the right debugging tools, bringing the entire software development process into a secure and coordinated environment.
An AI coding agent
Every project starts with a simple prompt. But instead of immediately starting to write code, the platform first creates a specification and a list of tasks necessary to complete the task. That’s when Pythagora’s agent system comes into play: it writes frontend code, connects APIs, develops backend logic, manages databases and independently fixes its own errors using the typical tools like logs and breakpoints.
What makes this Croatian-made piece of innovation so impressive is that this is the first time that such advanced tools have been successfully combined in one interface, then made available to experienced developers and those who are only just stepping foot into the world of so-called “vibe coding.”
Unlike classic programming assistants, Pythagora’s platform functions as an assistant developer. It’s not there to just generate code, but to explain its decisions, guide users through various changes and enable interactive debugging, all within a familiar environment like Visual Studio Code. Every user has full control over the written code, which remains open, changeable and portable without being locked into a specific vendor or invisible parts of the system.
A step into the future
What makes Pythagora’s platform stand out is its ability to generate complete applications with the proper “architecture” and layered logic. Whether we’re talking about internal dashboards, automating business processes or simply launching new digital products, users can integrate their own APIs, import Swagger documentation, and customise absolutely everything from UI behaviour to all kinds of backend rules.
“Interest in vibe coding has exploded, but the current generation of tools simply doesn’t meet people’s expectations,” said Zvonimir Sabljić, Pythagora’s co-founder and CEO:
Too many AI tools stop at the frontend or generate code that breaks as soon as it encounters any genuine level of complexity. Our goal was to design the entire development process from the ground up, from prompt to production, to make vibe coding reliable, secure and scalable. While others offer individual parts for development, Pythagora offers a full and ready solution.
Pythagora is the only platform in its category that hasn’t outsourced security to AI systems. “You can rely on AI for database management and debugging, but safety and security must always remain in human hands,” Sabljić said.
Lauren Simmonds is the editor of Total Croatia News, the largest English language portal in Croatia. She lives in Zagreb, Croatia, and is a translator, content writer, interpreter and the co-author of "Croatia - A Survival Kit for Foreigners," which was published in 2022.
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