Observed Signal · Aug 12, 2026 · Funding · Source: techcrunch · Impact: 3/5 · Sentiment: Positive
Funding Market: Blacksmith valuation rises 10x to $550M after $45M Series B
Blacksmith, an AI code-testing startup founded in 2024, raised $45 million in a Series B led by Peak XV Partners at a $550 million valuation, up from a $60 million valuation at a $10 million Series A less than a year earlier. Existing investors GV and Y Combinator participated, bringing total funding to $58.5 million. Blacksmith says it now serves more than 5,000 customers (including Mercury, Supabase, Clerk, Ashby, and Expensify) and has grown from roughly 10 employees and a $10 million annualized run rate to about 30 employees and "tens of millions" in revenue, with some customers spending over $1 million annually. The company started as a cloud CI provider and expanded its platform with an AI coding agent called Codesmith. Management plans to broaden its suite of coding tools amid competition from major cloud providers and developer tooling companies.
Signals investor interest in AI-driven developer tooling and rapid growth of a B2B SaaS startup addressing code validation — relevant to developer tooling, cloud providers, and enterprise software buyers but not industry-shifting.
Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Blacksmith raised $45 million in a Series B led by Peak XV Partners, valuing the company at $550 million.
- The $550 million valuation is up from a $60 million valuation at a $10 million Series A less than a year earlier.
- Existing investors GV and Y Combinator participated; total funding to date is $58.5 million.
- Blacksmith was founded in 2024 and now serves more than 5,000 customers, including Mercury, Supabase, Clerk, Ashby, and Expensify.
- The company says it reached a $10 million annualized revenue run rate with 10 employees, has grown to about 30 employees, and now generates "tens of millions" in revenue; some customers spend more than $1 million per year.
Connected Companies & Entities
13 Entities mappedPeak XV Partners
Venture and growth investor focused on Asian startups.
“The Series B, led by Peak XV Partners, values Blacksmith at $550 million......”
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Enterprise cloud infrastructure, data and AI platform provider.
“Its key competitors include GitHub Actions, Cursor Automations, validation capabilities baked into Codex and Claude Code, numerous other sta...”
Anthropic
Foundation model company selling AI assistants and model APIs.
“The rise of AI coding tools such as Cursor, OpenAI’s Codex, and Anthropic’s Claude Code has made it significantly easier for software teams ...”
Mercury
Business banking and finance operations platform for startups.
“The startup now serves more than 5,000 customers, including Mercury, Supabase, Clerk, Ashby, and Expensify......”
Cursor
AI-native code editor for developers and enterprise engineering teams.
“The rise of AI coding tools such as Cursor, OpenAI’s Codex, and Anthropic’s Claude Code has made it significantly easier for software teams ...”
Expensify
Expense, spend, card and travel management software for businesses.
“The startup now serves more than 5,000 customers, including Mercury, Supabase, Clerk, Ashby, and Expensify......”
Supabase
Open-source Postgres backend platform for application developers.
“The startup now serves more than 5,000 customers, including Mercury, Supabase, Clerk, Ashby, and Expensify......”
Microsoft Azure
Enterprise cloud infrastructure, data and AI platform.
“Its key competitors include GitHub Actions, Cursor Automations, validation capabilities baked into Codex and Claude Code, numerous other sta...”
Y Combinator
Startup accelerator and early-stage venture investment firm.
“Existing investors GV and Y Combinator also participated, bringing the startup’s total funding to $58.5 million....”
GitHub
Developer platform for code collaboration, automation and AI coding.
“Its key competitors include GitHub Actions, Cursor Automations, validation capabilities baked into Codex and Claude Code, numerous other sta...”
GV (Google Ventures)
Alphabet-backed venture capital firm for technology startups.
“Existing investors GV and Y Combinator also participated, bringing the startup’s total funding to $58.5 million....”
OpenAI
Foundation model company selling AI software, APIs and subscriptions.
“The rise of AI coding tools such as Cursor, OpenAI’s Codex, and Anthropic’s Claude Code has made it significantly easier for software teams ...”
Google Cloud
Enterprise cloud, data and AI services for businesses.
“Its key competitors include GitHub Actions, Cursor Automations, validation capabilities baked into Codex and Claude Code, numerous other sta...”
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