Oslo-based startup Riff has secured €14 million in Series A funding led by Northzone, with support from Skyfall Ventures, Maki.vc, Sondo Capital, Global Founders Capital, and Illusian, the fund led by Supercell founder Ilkka Paananen. This round brings Riff’s total funding to €18.4 million.
With the new funding, Riff is rolling out advanced features to expand its automation capabilities. These include AI-driven agents that can manage data syncing, alerts, and multimedia tasks, as well as native integrations with popular SaaS tools such as HubSpot, Google Drive, Notion, Stripe, and Mixpanel.
Turning vibe coding into business
Founded in 2021 by Trygve Karper, Martin Røed, and Viral Shah, Riff, previously known as Databutton, helps non-technical professionals build complex, data-driven applications without needing to code. While many platforms focus on rapid experimentation, few succeed in creating scalable, production-ready tools. Riff bridges this gap by combining intuitive interfaces with robust backend infrastructure, allowing even small teams to launch reliable enterprise apps.
The company’s approach, dubbed “vibe coding”, centres on creative, user-friendly app building that still delivers professional results. This approach addresses a challenge highlighted by an MIT study, which shows 95% of AI projects never reach production. By giving users ready-to-use templates, expert guidance, and pre-built playbooks, the company ensures ideas can evolve into tangible, high-impact solutions. Additionally, background agents allow users to implement larger updates directly from their phones, while domain whitelisting enhances security for internal applications.
Builds the next gen of automation tools
Riff’s latest platform version has already attracted over 150,000 users. Companies like Twilio and Cognite are leveraging it to streamline workflows across industries, from manufacturing and logistics to healthcare and finance. What sets it apart is its ability to transform internal operations, helping teams quickly deploy intelligent automations that reduce manual work and increase efficiency.
Its growth reflects a wider business trend: organisations want automation, but not the dependency on large IT departments or external developers. Riff’s approach makes that independence achievable. As businesses race to turn automation into competitive advantage, Riff is positioning itself as the bridge between creativity and enterprise reliability, a platform where ideas don’t just start, but scale.
“It’s really inspiring to see what people are achieving with Riff,” said Trygve Karper, CEO and Co-founder of Riff. “Many come to us after weeks stuck in limbo after having been promised the moon on hyped products. Having created modular building blocks that drive immediate value, our builders taste success out of the gate. This Series A funding is incredibly exciting because it lets us scale that impact to thousands more doers in the real world.”
Michiel Kotting, Partner at Northzone, added, “Vibe coding is ushering in a transformational shift in software development, where anyone can create, launch, and maintain applications without having to code. What makes Riff special in our mind is the relentless focus on providing doers with the ability to build tooling that works in production. We’re excited to be joining Trygve, Martin, and Viral on their journey to create the last mile of transmitting the incredible power of AI to real business impact for everyday users.”
