Blacksmith, a platform designed to help companies build and test software more efficiently—including AI-generated code—has secured $66 million in a Series C funding round led by Sequoia Capital. This latest investment values the company at $1 billion, officially making Blacksmith a unicorn. The startup focuses on improving the continuous integration (CI) process, which involves building, testing, merging, and validating code changes, a task that has become increasingly complex as AI contributes more to software development.

Founded with the goal of simplifying the burdensome CI workflow, Blacksmith addresses a growing market need as traditional methods struggle under the volume of automated code checks required in modern software teams. CEO Aditya Jayaprakash emphasized the importance of trust in AI-written code, explaining that as more software is authored by intelligent agents, rigorous validation becomes critical. The platform has demonstrated strong traction by running over 90 million CI jobs and growing its annual recurring revenue by 17 times, with clients such as Mercury and Granola benefiting from its capabilities.

This funding milestone follows closely on the heels of Blacksmith’s $45 million Series B round announced just two months earlier, which doubled its valuation from $550 million to the new $1 billion mark. The company’s rapid valuation increase is striking considering it was valued at only $60 million a year ago after raising $10 million in Series A funding. Across all rounds, it has now raised a total of $125 million to accelerate its growth and scale its software validation platform.

Blacksmith’s growth exemplifies the broader investment trend in AI-enabled developer tools, reflecting heightened demand for solutions that ensure software reliability in an era increasingly reliant on machine-generated code. With backing from Sequoia and escalating customer adoption, Blacksmith is positioned to continue expanding its influence on the software development lifecycle, helping companies maintain confidence in their rapidly evolving codebases.