Google Ventures Leads $10M Series A in Blacksmith, Accelerating DevOps Innovation
Google Ventures Backs Blacksmith with $10M to Speed Up Software Delivery
In a significant move underscoring the fast-evolving landscape of AI-driven software development, Blacksmith has secured a $10 million Series A round, just four months after its initial seed funding. The round, led by Google Ventures (GV), closed in a rapid 14 days—an indicator of both market excitement and the company’s remarkable early traction.
From Seed to Series A: Rapid Growth
Blacksmith’s journey began in January 2024, founded by a team of University of Waterloo alumni and veterans from Cockroach Labs and Faire. The company set out to tackle the inefficiencies and unpredictability in continuous integration (CI) and continuous delivery (CD) for software teams. Within just a few months, the San Francisco-based startup grew its annual recurring revenue (ARR) from $1 million to $3.5 million and expanded its customer base to over 700 organizations—all with a lean team of eight.
What Makes Blacksmith Stand Out?
- Accelerated Build and Test Times: Unlike traditional CI/CD solutions hosted on generic cloud infrastructure, Blacksmith leverages high-performance, gaming-grade CPUs. This approach enables developers to run tests up to twice as fast while cutting compute costs by up to 75%.
- Seamless Integration: Teams can switch to Blacksmith’s platform by changing just a single line of code, allowing for rapid onboarding and immediate benefits in shipping speed.
- Advanced Analytics: Blacksmith offers detailed test analytics and is developing an observability roadmap, providing deeper insights for teams using GitHub Actions and other CI/CD tools.
Meeting the Demands of Modern Development Teams
Today’s software teams, especially those with 500 or more engineers, need reliable, fast, and cost-effective CI/CD solutions. Blacksmith’s platform complements existing developer workflows on platforms like GitHub, AWS CodeCommit, and others, offering a compelling alternative to the slower and costlier solutions provided by hyperscalers such as AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure.
Some of Blacksmith’s notable customers include Ashby, Chroma, Clerk, Devsisters, Mintlify, Pylon, Slope, Supabase, and VEED.
Backing from Industry Leaders
Google Ventures, which initially invested in Blacksmith’s $3.5 million seed round in May, decided to double down based on the startup’s tangible results and rapid customer adoption. The latest round also attracted continued support from prominent angels and industry leaders, such as Spencer Kimball (CEO of Cockroach Labs) and David Cramer (co-founder of Sentry).
What’s Next for Blacksmith?
With fresh capital and a growing team—now 11 strong—Blacksmith aims to double its ARR by year’s end, further enhancing its infrastructure and analytics offerings. As the demand for AI-powered development tools continues to surge, Blacksmith is well positioned to lead the next wave of innovation in developer productivity and DevOps automation.
