---
title: "Nous Research raises $90 million to build a business version of its open-source Hermes agent"
url: https://anawords.com/story/nous-research-hermes-agent-90-million-series-b
published: 2026-10-12T14:00:35+05:30
updated: 2026-10-12T14:00:35+05:30
section: Open Source AI
author: Mayank Sahu
checked: sources checked by AI, approved by editor
version: 1
---

# Nous Research raises $90 million to build a business version of its open-source Hermes agent

The Wall Street Journal reports the Series B values the company at $1.5 billion. Hermes Agent is free under the MIT licence; the money will fund paid hosting, security and support for companies.

**In short:** Nous Research has raised $90 million in a Series B round led by Robot Ventures to build Hermes for Businesses, an enterprise version of its open-source Hermes Agent. The Wall Street Journal reported a $1.5 billion valuation, which the company did not disclose itself.

## The round

Nous Research has raised $90 million in a Series B round led by Robot Ventures, with Nvidia, Microsoft’s venture fund M12 and Samsung among the investors, according to reports based on The Wall Street Journal.[^1][^2] The WSJ put the valuation at $1.5 billion; Dealroom notes the company itself did not disclose it.[^1][^2]

The round brings total funding to about $158 million to $160 million.[^1][^2] Paradigm led a $50 million Series A in 2025.[^1][^2]

## What Hermes Agent is

Hermes Agent is an open-source AI agent released under the MIT licence.[^3] Nous describes it as self-improving: it creates skills from experience and builds a model of the user across sessions.[^3] It runs from the terminal, as a desktop app for Mac, Windows and Linux, or in the cloud.[^3] Trending Topics notes it can also be controlled through messaging apps such as Telegram and Discord.[^2]

## What the money is for

Nous plans “Hermes for Businesses”, a paid enterprise version with private AI use, model choice by price and goal, and company-owned knowledge.[^1] The software stays free; hosting, security, management and support are paid, an open-core model.[^2]

## The company’s numbers

The WSJ reported 22.7 million downloads of Hermes since February.[^1][^2] Nous says annualised revenue was about $36 million in mid-September and expects it to pass $100 million by the end of 2026.[^1][^2] These are the company’s own figures.

## Why it matters

Open-source agents compete with paid agent products from large labs. A well-funded open-core company could give businesses another option they can inspect and run themselves.

## Fact ledger

- [Reported] Nous Research raised $90 million in a Series B led by Robot Ventures. (source 1,2)
- [Reported] The WSJ reported a $1.5 billion valuation; Nous did not disclose it. (source 1,2)
- [Confirmed] Hermes Agent is open source under the MIT licence. (source 3)
- [Company claim] Annualised revenue of about $36 million in mid-September. (source 1,2)
- [Not known] The terms and pricing of Hermes for Businesses.

## Sources

1. [Dealroom: Nous Research raises $90M at $1.5B valuation](https://dealroom.co/news/160592-nous-research-raises-90m-at-1-5b-valuation-for-open-source-ai/)
2. [Trending Topics: Nous Research raises $90M for Hermes](https://www.trendingtopics.eu/nous-research-hermes-90-millionen/)
3. [Nous Research: Hermes Agent](https://nousresearch.com/) — official