Nous Research Raises $90M Series B for Hermes for Businesses

Nous Research raised $90 million to build Hermes for Businesses, an enterprise version of its MIT-licensed Hermes Agent, according to CEO Dillon Rolnick’s company post and the lab’s October 7 announcement. TechCrunch reports Nous confirmed a $1.5 billion valuation for the Series B led by Robot Ventures, bringing total funding to $158 million. The Wall Street Journal also covered the round.

The numbers on the wire

• $90 million Series B (company-confirmed amount; round label per Nous’s X post).
• Lead: Robot Ventures, per TechCrunch. Investors named across TechCrunch and Nous: NVIDIA, Union Square Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Samsung, 1789 Capital, Microsoft’s M12 and Y Combinator, among others.
• Valuation: $1.5 billion, confirmed by Nous per TechCrunch. MarketScreener lists the round as $1.5 billion post-money. The WSJ also reported $1.5 billion.
• Total funding: $158 million (TechCrunch).
• Hermes Agent: cloned more than 24 million times and, by Nous’s internal estimate, drives about 2.5% of global token usage. The WSJ separately reported 22 million+ downloads.
• Revenue: the WSJ reported roughly $36 million annualized by mid-September 2026 and a target above $100 million by year-end.
• License: Hermes Agent shipped under MIT in February 2026.

What the money buys

Nous says Hermes for Businesses will let companies pick models by price and goal, keep AI use private, and own their institutional knowledge. The X announcement also confirms a mobile app is coming; no date was given.

Why it matters

Nous built its name on post-training open models and methods such as YaRN for long context. The raise moves it from open releases to an enterprise product, with NVIDIA and M12 on the cap table, while keeping the core agent open source.

What we are watching

Pricing and launch timing for Hermes for Businesses, and whether the 2.5% token-share estimate gets an external measurement.

FAQ

What valuation did Nous Research confirm?

A $1.5 billion valuation on the $90 million Series B, per TechCrunch’s October 7 report that Nous confirmed the figure. Total funding is now $158 million.

Who led the Series B?

Robot Ventures led, with participation from NVIDIA, Union Square Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Samsung and 1789 Capital, among others named by TechCrunch and Nous.