Open-source AI lab Nous Research raises $90 million at $1.5 billion valuation
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Nous Research confirmed on 7 October 2026 a $90 million Series B at a $1.5 billion valuation and launched Hermes for Businesses, an enterprise AI agent.
What Happened
Nous Research, the US artificial intelligence lab behind the open-source Hermes Agent, confirmed on Wednesday, 7 October 2026 that it has closed a $90 million Series B funding round at a valuation of $1.5 billion. Most reports name Robot Ventures as the lead investor, with Nvidia, Union Square Ventures, Menlo Ventures and Samsung among the backers. Alongside the funding, the company introduced Hermes for Businesses, a version of its agent built for companies that want to run customised AI agents on multi-step work while keeping their data private.
Key Facts
- Round: $90 million Series B, confirmed by Nous Research on 7 October 2026.
- Valuation: $1.5 billion, a figure first reported in July when the company was said to be in talks to raise at that level.
- Investors: Robot Ventures is reported as lead; Nvidia, Union Square Ventures, Menlo Ventures and Samsung are among the named participants.
- Product: Hermes Agent, released in February 2026 under the permissive MIT open-source licence.
- New offer: Hermes for Businesses, aimed at enterprises that need customised agents and private handling of company data.
- Company figures: Nous says Hermes has been copied, or cloned, more than 24 million times; these numbers are the company's own estimates.
- No price or general release date for the business version has been published.
Why It Matters
Most of the money flowing into AI agents goes to companies that keep their models and code closed. Nous Research is one of the few well-funded labs that publishes its agent openly, under a licence that lets anyone use, change and sell products built on it. A $1.5 billion valuation for a lab of this kind shows that investors now see a business case for open agents, not only for closed ones. The open model earns attention and developers; the paid enterprise product is where the company plans to earn money.
The enterprise move follows a familiar path in software. Open-source projects such as databases and developer tools often win wide use for free and then sell a supported, managed or more secure version to companies. For AI agents, the selling points that matter to large buyers are control over where data goes, who can access the agent, and how its actions are logged. Hermes for Businesses is pitched at exactly those concerns.
The round also lands in a crowded week for agent start-ups worldwide, with large rounds going to firms that build assistants, coding agents and security tools for agents. That competition means Nous will need to show that its open approach turns into paying customers, not only downloads. Reports citing the company's numbers put its annualised revenue at about $36 million in mid-September, with a target of more than $100 million by the end of the year. Those are projections, and they have not been independently checked.
For Indian founders and developers, open agents matter in a practical way. A small team in Bengaluru, Pune or Jaipur can build on an MIT-licensed agent without paying licence fees, run it on its own servers, and adapt it for local languages or regulated sectors such as banking and health, where keeping data inside the organisation is often a legal requirement.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Company | Nous Research |
| Round | Series B, $90 million |
| Valuation | $1.5 billion |
| Reported lead | Robot Ventures |
| New product | Hermes for Businesses |
Impact
Short-term: Enterprises that have tested Hermes Agent informally now have a business version to evaluate, and rival open and closed agent makers face fresh pressure on price and data control.
Long-term: If the paid version sells, it will strengthen the case that open-source AI can support large companies, which could keep more powerful agents freely available to developers everywhere, including in India.
Who is affected: Developers who use open AI tools, companies weighing whether to buy closed or open agents, investors in the AI sector, and Indian start-ups that build products on top of open models.
Key Takeaway
Nous Research has raised $90 million at a $1.5 billion valuation and is turning its free, open-source Hermes Agent into a paid product for businesses.
Questions and Answers
How much did Nous Research raise and at what valuation?
Nous Research confirmed on 7 October 2026 that it raised $90 million in a Series B round at a valuation of $1.5 billion, with Robot Ventures reported as the lead investor.
What is Hermes for Businesses?
It is a version of the company's Hermes AI agent built for companies, letting them run customised agents on multi-step tasks while keeping their data private. No price or launch date has been published yet.
Can Indian developers use Hermes Agent for free?
Yes. Hermes Agent was released in February 2026 under the MIT licence, which allows anyone to use, modify and build commercial products on it, subject to the licence terms.
Are the company's revenue numbers confirmed?
No. The roughly $36 million annualised revenue and the target of over $100 million by year-end are figures attributed to the company and have not been independently verified.
Disclaimer: Prepared by the Peepals newsroom from publicly available sources with AI assistance. Information is accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication and may change. Images may be representative. Not professional advice. Report an error via our contact page.
Sourced and fact-checked by the Peepals Global Editorial Team
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Reported, fact-checked and published by the Peepals Global Editorial Team.
