Supabase CEO discusses the tough choices that shaped a $5 billion business

Vibe Coding’s Impact and Supabase’s Unconventional Path

The rise of vibe coding is reshaping the tech landscape, and it’s not only companies like Lovables and Replit that are thriving. The startups providing the essential infrastructure behind these platforms are also reaping significant rewards.

Supabase, an open-source database solution that has become a favorite backend for the vibe-coding community, recently secured $100 million in funding at a $5 billion valuation—just months after raising $200 million at a $2 billion valuation. Despite this rapid growth, co-founder and CEO Paul Copplestone has chosen a surprising approach: he consistently declines lucrative enterprise contracts from large, demanding clients. Instead, he’s committed to following his own product vision, confident that the market will eventually align with his direction. So far, his strategy has proven successful.

On this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Julie Bort interviews Copplestone to discuss Supabase’s ascent, its influence on the vibe coding movement, and the implications for developers and the traditional database powerhouses that have long dominated the industry.

Highlights from the Episode

• Copplestone’s belief that “the death of Oracle won’t take a generation.”
• The ambitious technical projects Supabase is pursuing to enhance Postgres scalability.
• His criteria for rejecting enterprise deals—and why those decisions remain difficult.

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