Nous Research Raises $90 Million at $1.5 Billion Valuation to Expand Hermes Into Enterprises

TL;DR

• Nous Research raised $90 million in Series B funding at a $1.5 billion valuation.

• Robot Ventures led the round, with participation from Nvidia, Union Square Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Samsung, and 1789 Capital.

• The financing brings the three-year-old startup’s total funding to $158 million.

• Nous says its open-source Hermes Agent has been cloned more than 24 million times and accounts for roughly 2.5% of global AI token usage.

Nous Research, the startup behind the open-source Hermes Agent, has raised $90 million in a Series B round valuing the company at $1.5 billion.

Robot Ventures led the financing, joined by investors including Nvidia, Union Square Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Samsung, and 1789 Capital, where Donald Trump Jr. is a partner.

The round brings Nous Research’s total funding to $158 million and confirms TechCrunch’s earlier reporting on the company’s fundraising discussions.

New Funding Supports Hermes for Businesses

Nous plans to use the capital to expand into the enterprise market through “Hermes for Businesses.”

The offering will allow companies to deploy customized AI agents designed to carry out workflows involving multiple steps. Nous says the product will also help businesses keep their data private and secure.

The expansion builds on Hermes Agent’s adoption among developers and individual users, giving the company a route to turn that interest into business deployments.

For enterprise customers, the proposed offering centers on adapting agents to company-specific tasks and data requirements.

Nous Reports More Than 24 Million Hermes Clones

According to Nous Research, Hermes Agent has been cloned more than 24 million times.

The startup also estimates that the agent drives approximately 2.5% of global AI token usage.

Those figures indicate substantial activity around the project, although clone counts do not represent unique users or paying customers. The token-usage estimate is also a company-reported measure.

Nous is now seeking to build on that adoption by offering businesses customized agents for more complex operational tasks.

Annualized Revenue Target Exceeds $100 Million

Nous Research reached approximately $36 million in annualized revenue by mid-September 2026, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The company expects that figure to surpass $100 million before the end of the year, the publication reported.

Annualized revenue expresses a revenue pace over a full year; it does not mean the company has already collected that amount. The year-end figure remains a forecast.

With fresh funding and an enterprise offering in development, Nous is aiming to convert the popularity of its open-source agent into a larger commercial business.