Nous Research Raises $90 Million, and Its $1.5 Billion Valuation Is TechCrunch's Number, Not Its Own

Nous Research, the developer of the open-source Hermes Agent, raised $90 million, and TechCrunch reports the round as a Series B at a $1.5 billion valuation. Nous's own post, A Note on Our Fundraise, gives the $90 million and does not disclose a valuation or use the words "Series B". The $1.5 billion figure therefore rests on TechCrunch, which says Nous confirmed it, and TechCrunch does not say whether it is pre-money or post-money.

The raise is announced by the company. It follows a July 13 report that Nous was in talks, and TechCrunch puts total funding at $158 million for a three-year-old startup.

Who put in the $90 million

The two accounts name different investors, which is the most useful thing to read side by side.

Source	Named investors
TechCrunch	Robot Ventures (lead), Nvidia, Union Square Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Samsung, 1789 Capital
Nous post	NVIDIA, Microsoft's M12, Samsung, Robot Ventures, Union Square Ventures, Y Combinator, Menlo Ventures, "among others"

TechCrunch notes that Donald Trump Jr. is a partner at 1789 Capital, an investor Nous's list does not name. M12 and Y Combinator appear only in Nous's list. Neither account gives per-investor amounts.

What $1.5 billion implies

TechCrunch cites The Wall Street Journal for annualised revenue of about $36 million by mid-September, with Nous expecting to pass $100 million by the end of 2026. Annualised revenue is a run rate, not recognised revenue.

1. At $36 million (mid-September)41.7 x revenue
2. At $100 million (year-end target)15 x revenue

Source: Author's arithmetic on TechCrunch and WSJ-reported figures, accessed 2026-10-08

At the mid-September run rate the valuation is about 42 times revenue. It falls to 15 times only if Nous reaches its own year-end forecast, which nobody outside the company has verified. For $90 million at $1.5 billion, the investors hold roughly 6 percent if the figure is post-money.

What the clone count does and does not say

Nous says Hermes Agent has been cloned more than 24 million times and, by its own internal estimate, accounts for roughly 2.5 percent of global token usage. The post calls it the most widely used open-source AI agent by many metrics. A clone is a copy of a repository. Automated builds make clones too, so 24 million is a measure of download activity, not 24 million users, and the 2.5 percent is Nous's own internal estimate.

Hermes Agent was released under the MIT licence in February, per the post, so the code is free to use commercially. That is also the commercial problem: revenue has to come from something other than the code. That is the purpose of the product announced with the round, Hermes for Businesses, which lets companies deploy customised agents for multi-step workflows while keeping their data private.

The post says the company will let customers choose models by cost and performance. The post puts its aim this way: "We're building for everyone to own their intelligence, and we're doing it in the open."

The agent field around it

Open agent tooling is crowded. Docker shipped an agent runner defined in YAML and distributed through OCI registries, and claude-mem reached 98.3k stars while its installer asks for a login. Free, MIT-licensed tooling attracts stars and clones quickly. Paying customers are the scarce item.

What would confirm it

The next observable event is revenue. A statement from Nous on whether it has passed $100 million, or a disclosed valuation basis, would settle whether 42 times was a temporary price or a lasting one.