Google Ventures Backs Blacksmith’s Rapid Growth with $10 Million Series A
Blacksmith, a San Francisco-based startup specializing in continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) services for developers, has closed a $10 million Series A round led by Google Ventures (GV). This investment follows GV’s initial $3.5 million seed funding just four months prior, underscoring strong confidence in Blacksmith’s market traction and technology.
Founded in January 2024 by veterans from Cockroach Labs and Faire, Blacksmith addresses inefficiencies in software build and unit testing processes. Traditional CI workflows require substantial computing resources and time, often relying on cloud providers like AWS, Google Cloud, or Microsoft Azure, which can be costly and unpredictable.
Blacksmith differentiates itself by utilizing high-performance, gaming-grade CPUs on bare-metal servers rather than generic cloud instances. According to co-founder and CEO Aditya Jayaprakash, this approach delivers up to double the processing speed while reducing compute costs by as much as 75%. Customers can integrate Blacksmith’s platform seamlessly by modifying a single line of code, enabling faster deployment cycles.
Rapid Customer Growth and Revenue Expansion
Since its inception, Blacksmith has expanded its customer base to over 700 clients, including companies such as Ashby, Chroma, Clerk, and Supabase. The startup achieved $1 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) by February 2025 with a lean team of four and has since tripled that figure to $3.5 million ARR with an 11-person team. The company aims to double ARR again by the end of the year.
Blacksmith’s platform also enhances observability and test analytics for GitHub Actions users, providing deeper insights into CI/CD workflows. The startup focuses on organizations with engineering teams of 500 or more, catering to enterprises seeking scalable, cost-efficient development infrastructure.
Investor Confidence and Strategic Positioning
Google Ventures’ decision to lead the Series A round reflects both the startup’s rapid progress and the expanding market opportunity driven by the proliferation of AI-powered coding tools. Existing investors and angel backers, including Spencer Kimball (CEO of Cockroach Labs) and David Cramer (co-founder of Sentry), participated in the latest funding.
Blacksmith emerged from Y Combinator’s Winter 2024 cohort and continues to leverage its founders’ expertise in distributed systems to refine its offering. By controlling hardware infrastructure directly, the company maintains tighter economic margins compared to hyperscalers, positioning itself competitively in the CI/CD space.
As AI coding agents accelerate software development velocity, Blacksmith’s platform aims to become a cornerstone for enterprises seeking to optimize build and deployment pipelines.
FinOracleAI — Market View
Blacksmith’s successful rapid fundraising and customer growth highlight strong market demand for efficient CI/CD solutions, especially with the rise of AI-assisted coding. Google Ventures’ renewed commitment signals confidence in Blacksmith’s differentiated approach leveraging bare-metal infrastructure to reduce costs and increase speed.
Risks include competition from established cloud providers and the challenge of scaling hardware operations. Market participants should watch Blacksmith’s ARR trajectory and adoption among large engineering teams as key indicators of sustained momentum.
Impact: positive
