Nous Research confirms $1.5B valuation, raises $90M Series B

Nous Research, the three-year-old startup behind the open-source Hermes agent, has confirmed a $90 million Series B at a $1.5 billion valuation, following earlier TechCrunch reporting. The round was led by Robot Ventures and included Nvidia, Samsung, and 1789 Capital, among others, bringing total funding to $158 million. The company's Hermes agent, popular among developers and individuals, has been cloned more than 24 million times and accounts for roughly 2.5% of global AI token usage, according to its own estimates. That adoption likely gave investors confidence to back its move into the enterprise sector with "Hermes for Businesses," which will let companies deploy customized AI agents that handle multi-step workflows while keeping data private and secure. The outcome hinges on whether Nous can translate its open-source popularity into paying business customers; the company was at roughly $36 million in annualized revenue by mid-September 2026 and expects to pass $100 million before the end of 2026, according to The Wall Street Journal, so hitting that target will be the key test for its enterprise push.