Blacksmith hits unicorn status with $66m Series C led by Sequoia

CI platform valued at $1bn, revenue grows 17x in a year as AI-generated code drives demand for testing

By LineZotpaper

Published21 October 2026

Read Time2 min

Sources2 outlets

Blacksmith, a platform that helps companies build and test software more efficiently, has achieved unicorn status with a $66 million Series C funding round led by Sequoia, the company announced on Wednesday. The round values the company at $1 billion, up from $550 million in its Series B just two months ago and $60 million a year ago.

The company, which focuses on continuous integration (CI), the process of building, testing, merging and validating code changes, said it has run over 90 million CI jobs and that its annual recurring revenue has grown 17-fold. Customers include fintech company Mercury and note-taking app Granola.

In a blog post announcing the round, Blacksmith co-founder and CEO Aditya Jayaprakash said the company was founded to make CI “less painful.” He argued that “most companies are struggling to keep up with the volume of CI they need to run,” particularly as more code is written by AI tools. “As agents write more of the world’s software, the question that matters is whether it can be trusted,” he added.

The Series C comes just two months after a $45 million Series B, also led by Sequoia, which valued Blacksmith at $550 million. A year ago, after a $10 million Series A, the company was valued at $60 million. Blacksmith has raised $125 million to date.

Analysis

Why This Matters

The rapid rise in valuation reflects investor belief that traditional CI infrastructure is not keeping pace with the volume of code, especially AI-generated code.
Blacksmith’s growth indicates that startups and enterprises alike are spending heavily on testing and validation as they adopt AI coding assistants.
The funding may accelerate consolidation or competition in the CI market, which includes established players like CircleCI and GitHub Actions.

Background

Continuous integration is a standard practice in modern software development, allowing teams to catch bugs early by automatically building and testing every code change. As AI coding tools such as GitHub Copilot and Cursor generate code at high speed, companies face a growing bottleneck in verifying that code before deployment. Blacksmith positions itself as a platform that can handle that increased load efficiently.

Key Perspectives

Blacksmith (CEO Aditya Jayaprakash): The company’s goal is to reduce the pain of CI and ensure that code, whether human-written or AI-generated, can be trusted. The 17x ARR growth and 90 million jobs run suggest strong product-market fit. Sequoia Capital: By leading two rounds in quick succession and backing the company at a $1 billion valuation, Sequoia is signalling that CI infrastructure is a critical layer in the AI-assisted development stack. Customers (Mercury, Granola): Their adoption of Blacksmith suggests that startups needing fast, scalable CI are willing to switch from incumbents for better performance.

What to Watch

Blacksmith’s next growth metrics: whether it can maintain the 17x ARR trajectory or if the rate slows.
Competitive response from CircleCI, GitHub Actions, and other CI providers.
Broader market adoption: if more companies move to AI-generated code, demand for CI should continue to rise, but a slowdown in AI coding adoption could cool investment.

Sources

Blacksmith hits unicorn valuation after Sequoia leads Series C · Startups | TechCrunch
Blacksmith hits unicorn valuation after Sequoia leads Series C · TechCrunch

Checked

12 claims in this story checked against 1 source: 8 supported.

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SupportedBlacksmith raised a $66 million Series C led by Sequoia, giving it a $1 billion valuation.Startups | TechCrunch: “announced Wednesday a $66 million Series C funding round led by Sequoia that values the company at $1 billion.”
Partly supportedBlacksmith’s revenue grew 17-fold in a year.Startups | TechCrunch: “The company also announced that its annual recurring revenue has grown 17x”
Not in the sourcesAI-generated code is driving demand for testing.Startups | TechCrunch
SupportedBlacksmith’s valuation rose from $550 million in its Series B to $1 billion in its Series C two months later.Startups | TechCrunch: “The Series C comes just two months after its $45 million Series B, which valued the company at $550 million.”
SupportedThe company was valued at $60 million a year ago after a $10 million Series A.Startups | TechCrunch: “A year ago, Blacksmith was valued at $60 million after raising a $10 million Series A.”
SupportedBlacksmith’s CEO said the company was founded to make CI “less painful.”Startups | TechCrunch: “Blacksmith co-founder and CEO Aditya Jayaprakash said the company was founded to make continuous integration (CI) — the process of building, testing, merging, and validating code changes — “less painful.””
SupportedJayaprakash said, “most companies are struggling to keep up with the volume of CI they need to run,” particularly as more code is written by AI tools.Startups | TechCrunch: “In a blog post, he said that “most companies are struggling to keep up with the volume of CI they need to run,” especially in an era where so much code is written by AI.”
SupportedJayaprakash added, “As agents write more of the world’s software, the question that matters is whether it can be trusted.”Startups | TechCrunch: ““As agents write more of the world’s software, the question that matters is whether it can be trusted,” he added.”
SupportedBlacksmith has run over 90 million CI jobs and its annual recurring revenue has grown 17-fold.Startups | TechCrunch: “The company also announced that its annual recurring revenue has grown 17x and that it has run over 90 million CI jobs, or individual automated code checks.”
Partly supportedMercury is a fintech company and Granola is a note-taking app, and both are Blacksmith customers.Startups | TechCrunch: “Customers include Mercury and Granola.”
Not in the sourcesSequoia also led Blacksmith’s $45 million Series B.Startups | TechCrunch: “The Series C comes just two months after its $45 million Series B, which valued the company at $550 million.”
SupportedBlacksmith has raised $125 million to date.Startups | TechCrunch: “It has raised $125 million to date.”