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Nous Research, maker of the free Hermes agent, closed a $90 million Series B that values the company at $1.5 billion and plans to launch AI agents for business users, TechCrunch reported on October 7. Robot Ventures led the round, and Samsung, Nvidia and the venture firms Menlo and Union Square also joined.
Here is the short version for founders: a free, open-source AI agent is turning into a paid business product. If you are deciding whether to build on open tools or pay for a closed platform, this is a live case study. It also fits the wave of AI agents for business that investors keep funding.
The Numbers Behind Nous Research
The three-year-old company has brought in $158 million overall. The company estimates that developers have copied Hermes over 24 million times, and that the agent drives roughly 2.5 percent of worldwide AI token consumption. The Wall Street Journal reported annualized revenue of roughly $36 million by mid-September, with a goal of passing $100 million by the end of 2026.
Nous Research snapshot
Metric
Reported figure
Series B
$90 million
Valuation
$1.5 billion
Total raised
$158 million
Annualized revenue, mid-September
About $36 million
2026 revenue target
More than $100 million
From Free Download to Paid Product
The new money will fund Hermes for Businesses. The idea is to let companies run customized agents for complex, multi-stage tasks without exposing their data. In plain terms, Nous is building a commercial layer on top of a popular free project.
That path is familiar in software. A community adopts the free tool, and the company sells the support, hosting and controls that larger customers need. The risk is that the free version competes with the paid one, so the paid layer must be clearly better.
What This Means for Teams Weighing Open Tools
Open tools can lower cost and reduce lock-in, but they also shift responsibility to you. Somebody on your team must handle updates, monitori… Read More
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