Signals upcoming enterprise-grade AI agent options for workflow automation.
Nous Research, the startup behind the open source Hermes Agent, has raised a $90 million Series B at a $1.5 billion valuation, according to TechCrunch. The round was led by Robot Ventures, with participation from Nvidia, Union Square Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Samsung and 1789 Capital, and it brings the 3-year-old startup’s total funding to $158 million. The capital funds the company’s push into the enterprise sector with a product called Hermes for Businesses, and the numbers behind the round say open models are now a procurement conversation.
Who invested in Nous Research and how much?
Robot Ventures led the $90 million Series B, and the participant list is the part enterprise buyers should read twice: Nvidia, Union Square Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Samsung and 1789 Capital all joined. The round values the 3-year-old startup at $1.5 billion and lifts total funding to $158 million. Nous also published its own note on the fundraise, which frames the raise around building AI that stays open.
The investor mix puts a chip vendor, a consumer electronics giant and established venture firms behind an open-source agent company. A $1.5 billion valuation on an open source model shop means investors now price open models as enterprise infrastructure.
What are Nous Research’s actual user and revenue numbers?
The usage numbers are the strongest part of the story: the open source Hermes Agent has been cloned more than 24 million times, and Nous estimates it drives roughly 2.5% of global AI token usage. On the revenue side, The Wall Street Journal reported that Nous was at roughly $36 million in annualized revenue by mid-September 2026 and expects to pass $100 million before the end of 2026, which TechCrunch repeats in its coverage of the round. The revenue attribution matters, because the $36 million and $100 million figures are WSJ reporting rather than a company press release.
Growth at that pace inside a single quarter is the number that explains the valuation, although it stays a projection until the year-end numbers land. 24 million clones and 2.5% of global token usage are the adoption facts, and the $100 million target is the claim to watch.
How does Hermes for Businesses handle data custody?
Hermes for Businesses lets companies deploy customized agents that handle multi-step workflows while keeping their data private and secure, which is the stated product the round funds. The pitch is an agent your data never has to leave home for, and it lands against a real anxiety: closed platforms store prompts, files and customer records under vendor-defined retention terms. An open-source agent deployed on your own infrastructure inverts that default, and the Hermes Agent repository shows the self-improving architecture the enterprise version builds on.
Custody claims still need the same due diligence any vendor gets, because open source the model does not automatically mean private the deployment. The product is positioned as private-by-architecture, and the proof will be where your prompts, files and records physically sit.
What does the Nous Research round mean if you already use AI agents?
It means the open-source option in your agent evaluation just got a funded enterprise motion behind it, with Nvidia and Samsung at the table. If your current agent vendor holds your workflow data under its own retention terms, you now have a credible alternative to price against, and the evaluation question shifts from model quality to custody terms. Teams that already know which workflows they would hand over are the ones positioned to test Hermes for Businesses first.
Nothing in the announcement changes your obligations, although it changes your negotiating position. The round funds a private-deployment alternative, and every agent contract up for renewal now has a second bid to request.
The client folder sits in a vendor’s cloud, and the renewal email arrives with a price increase attached. The agency owner likes the agent, although the retention clause is 2 pages long and the data leaves the building every time a task runs. 24 million clones of an open alternative say that folder has somewhere else to live.
That negotiation is the real product Hermes for Businesses is selling, and the $158 million behind it is what turns the argument from forum post to procurement line. The owner who can price private deployment against the renewal holds the power. The one who cannot, renews at whatever the vendor asks.
What should you do about Nous Research now?
Audit what your current agent vendor does with your data before the next renewal: where prompts and files are stored, how long they are retained, and whether they train anything you did not agree to. Then check the client list your workflows touch, because the businesses ready to test private deployment are the ones that already know exactly which workflows they would hand over. If the custody answers are weak, Hermes for Businesses belongs on the shortlist alongside your incumbent.
We track rounds like this one in the other AI funding rounds small teams should watch, because the money predicts which options reach your shortlist in 6 months. Run the custody audit this quarter, and let the answers decide whether the open-source bid gets a seat at the table.
Source: TechCrunch AI
