Nous Research confirms it hit $1.5B valuation, launches AI agents for business users

Nous Research has closed a $90 million Series B that values the company at $1.5 billion, the startup confirmed on October 7, 2026. The round was led by Robot Ventures and included participation from investors such as Nvidia, Union Square Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Samsung and 1789 Capital. The raise brings Nous’s cumulative financing to $158 million since its founding three years ago.

The company is known for Hermes, an open-source AI agent that has seen broad uptake among developers and individual users. Nous estimates Hermes has been cloned over 24 million times and accounts for roughly 2.5% of global AI token usage, figures the startup provided to characterize the agent’s reach.

Proceeds from the Series B will be used to expand Nous Research’s enterprise offerings. The company announced "Hermes for Businesses," a product designed to let firms deploy tailored AI agents capable of executing multi-step workflows while preserving data privacy and security, according to the startup.

On the revenue front, Nous was generating about $36 million in annualized revenue as of mid-September 2026 and expects to exceed $100 million by year-end 2026, a projection reported by The Wall Street Journal. The new financing and product focus aim to support that growth trajectory as Nous moves from a primarily developer-facing project toward broader commercial adoption.