Nous Research Hits $1.5B Valuation, Launches Business AI Agents

Nous Research, the developer of the open-source Hermes AI agent, has successfully closed a $90 million Series B funding round, achieving a corporate valuation of $1.5 billion. The investment was led by Robot Ventures, with additional capital provided by Nvidia, Union Square Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Samsung, and 1789 Capital. This latest financing brings the three-year-old startup total capital raised to $158 million. Built primarily for developers and individual users, the Hermes agent has seen widespread adoption, with over 24 million clones deployed globally and an estimated 2.5 percent share of worldwide AI token consumption. The newly secured funds will accelerate the company strategic expansion into the enterprise market through a dedicated offering, Hermes for Businesses. This enterprise solution will enable organizations to deploy customized AI agents capable of executing complex, multi-step workflows while maintaining strict data privacy and security protocols. Financially, the company has demonstrated rapid commercial traction, recording approximately $36 million in annualized revenue by mid-September 2026. Management projects that annualized revenue will surpass the $100 million threshold before the conclusion of the year. The funding round underscores growing institutional confidence in open-source AI infrastructure and positions Nous Research to capitalize on the accelerating demand for secure, self-hosted enterprise automation tools.