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AI Code Testing Startup Blacksmith's Valuation Soars 10x in a Year

The AI boom has made writing code faster than ever, but it's also created a new headache: how do you know if all that machine-generated code actually works? That's the problem Blacksmith, a startup focused on code testing and verification, is solving—and investors are betting big on it.

Just recently, Blacksmith announced a $4.5 million Series B round, led by PeakXV Partners, with existing backers GV and Y Combinator joining in. The real eye-opener? The company's valuation has skyrocketed from $60 million after its Series A to $550 million—a nearly tenfold jump in less than a year. Total funding now stands at $5.85 million.

Founded in 2024, Blacksmith helps enterprises build, test, and verify their software before it goes live. With AI programming tools like Cursor, Codex, and ClaudeCode churning out code at lightning speed, the bottleneck has shifted from writing code to checking it. As founder and CEO Aditya Jayaprakash puts it, "The more code people write, the more the pressure for verification increases exponentially."

Initially, Blacksmith started as a cloud service provider for continuous integration workloads. Now, it's expanded to include an AI programming assistant called Codesmith, which automatically fixes failed code checks. The platform's customer base has grown from over 700 a year ago to more than 5,000, including well-known names like Mercury, Supabase, Clerk, Ashby, and Expensify.

What's impressive is that Blacksmith has achieved a "tens of millions of dollars" annualized revenue run rate with just about 30 employees. Some major customers are spending over $1 million a year. But it's not all smooth sailing. The company faces stiff competition from GitHub Actions, built-in verification features in major AI tools, and the cloud giants—Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud.

Still, the team is optimistic. They plan to keep expanding the code tool ecosystem and help developers write, verify, and merge software at even faster speeds. In a world where AI is generating more code than ever, Blacksmith is positioning itself as the quality gatekeeper—and investors are clearly impressed.

Key Points

  • Valuation surge: Blacksmith's valuation jumped from $60 million to $550 million in under a year.
  • New funding: $4.5 million Series B led by PeakXV Partners, with GV and Y Combinator participating.
  • Customer growth: From 700 to over 5,000 customers, including Mercury, Supabase, and Expensify.
  • Lean team: Only 30 employees, yet achieving tens of millions in annualized revenue.
  • Competitive landscape: Faces pressure from GitHub Actions, AI tool built-ins, and cloud giants.