Nous Research Raises $90 Million Series B at a Reported $1.5 Billion Valuation to Bring Open-Source AI Agents to Business

Open-source AI projects rarely turn their popularity into revenue this quickly. Nous Research, the maker of the Hermes agent, raised $90 million in a Series B at a reported $1.5 billion valuation and plans to sell an enterprise version.

Most reports name Robot Ventures as the lead, with NVIDIA, Union Square Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Samsung and 1789 Capital among the investors. One report said no lead was identified, and another said the company has not officially confirmed the valuation, so both points should be treated as reported and not settled. Total funding is about $158 million, following a $50 million Series A led by Paradigm in April 2025.

What the Money Is For

The funds go toward Hermes for Businesses, an enterprise version of the agent that lets companies choose models by price and goal, keep their AI use private and own their institutional knowledge. The company says Hermes has been cloned more than 24 million times and accounts for about 2.5% of global AI token usage. Download figures differ between sources, with one attributing 22.7 million downloads to the Wall Street Journal.

Revenue Claims

Reports say Nous had an annualized revenue run rate of about $36 million by mid-September 2026 and expects it to exceed $100 million by year end. These are company figures and have not been independently verified. A forecast that nearly triples in a few months is a target, not a result.

What This Means for Founders

Open-source founders now have a clear example of how adoption can be turned into a business: build a large free user base, then sell a managed, private version to companies that need control over their data. The risk is that a free product gives customers little reason to pay unless the paid version solves a problem the free one cannot.

If you are raising a Series A on the strength of usage numbers, separate free users from paying customers and show how many convert. Understand how a high post-money valuation will shape later rounds, and ask each lead investor how it values community adoption compared with revenue.

Browse the AI and machine learning investor directory for more active funds, read the baseline mechanics of a limited partner if the term is new, or explore active capital on AngelLinx @ angellinx.ai/register.

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