# Blacksmith raises $45 million at $550 million valuation for AI-era code validation

> Source: <https://mlq.ai/news/blacksmith-raises-45-million-at-550-million-valuation-for-ai-era-code-validation/>
> Published: 2026-08-12 13:34:49.031651+00:00

# Blacksmith raises $45 million at $550 million valuation for AI-era code validation

- Blacksmith says its Series B valued the company at $550 million and will fund a major expansion of its computing footprint.
[[1]](https://www.blacksmith.sh/blog/announcing-blacksmiths-series-b-led-by-peak-xv-partners) - The startup says more than 6,000 companies now run continuous-integration workloads on its platform.
[[1]](https://www.blacksmith.sh/blog/announcing-blacksmiths-series-b-led-by-peak-xv-partners) - TechCrunch reported that Blacksmith’s revenue grew more than tenfold over the past year, a company claim that was not accompanied by a disclosed revenue figure.
[[2]](https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/12/blacksmiths-valuation-jumps-10x-to-550m-as-ai-coding-fuels-software-validation/)

Blacksmith has raised $45 million in a Series B at a $550 million valuation as AI coding tools increase the volume of software that engineering teams must test and validate. The round was led by Peak XV Partners, with GV and Y Combinator, which backed earlier rounds, participating. [[1]](https://www.blacksmith.sh/blog/announcing-blacksmiths-series-b-led-by-peak-xv-partners)

The San Francisco startup raised its seed round of $3.5 million in May 2025, led by GV and Y Combinator, followed by a $10 million Series A led by GV in September 2025. [[3]](https://www.blacksmith.sh/blog/blacksmith-seed-announcement)[[4]](https://techcrunch.com/2025/09/17/google-ventures-doubles-down-on-dev-tool-startup-blacksmith-just-4-months-after-its-seed-round/)

## A faster layer for GitHub Actions

Blacksmith provides hosted infrastructure for GitHub Actions, the continuous-integration system used to build and test code. It says its bare-metal deployment uses high-performance gaming CPUs and locally controlled storage to deliver faster runs and lower compute costs than generic cloud infrastructure. The company markets the service as a drop-in replacement that can be adopted with a workflow change. [[1]](https://www.blacksmith.sh/blog/announcing-blacksmiths-series-b-led-by-peak-xv-partners)[[5]](https://www.blacksmith.sh/)

That places Blacksmith alongside established CI and software-validation providers including GitHub Actions, CircleCI and Buildkite. Those companies are also adding test optimization, observability and AI-assisted failure resolution as coding agents produce more changes. [[5]](https://www.blacksmith.sh/)[[6]](https://circleci.com/product/)

## Companies mentioned

## Further sources

[[1] Blacksmith announced a $45 million Series B led by Peak XV Partners, said the r… ↗](https://www.blacksmith.sh/blog/announcing-blacksmiths-series-b-led-by-peak-xv-partners)

[[2] TechCrunch reported Blacksmith’s claim that revenue had grown more than tenfold… ↗](https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/12/blacksmiths-valuation-jumps-10x-to-550m-as-ai-coding-fuels-software-validation/)

[[3] Blacksmith announced its $3.5 million seed round in May 2025, led by GV and Y C… ↗](https://www.blacksmith.sh/blog/blacksmith-seed-announcement)

[[4] Blacksmith announced a $10 million Series A led by GV in September 2025, with e… ↗](https://techcrunch.com/2025/09/17/google-ventures-doubles-down-on-dev-tool-startup-blacksmith-just-4-months-after-its-seed-round/)

[[5] Blacksmith describes its product as a faster, lower-cost drop-in replacement fo… ↗](https://www.blacksmith.sh/)

[[6] CircleCI and Buildkite describe competing test optimization, observability and … ↗](https://circleci.com/product/)

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