Nous Research raises $90m to take its open-source Hermes agent to businesses, at a $1.5bn valuation, TechCrunch reports

Nous Research, the lab behind the open-source Hermes agent, said on 7 October: “Nous Research raised $90 million to create AI that serves the people.” Its note names NVIDIA, Microsoft's M12, Samsung, Robot Ventures, Union Square Ventures, Y Combinator and Menlo Ventures among the investors, and says: “With our fundraising and new partners, we will build and deliver Hermes for Businesses.” The note gives no valuation, round name or lead investor.

TechCrunch reported the same day that Nous has raised a $90 million Series B at a $1.5 billion valuation, “confirming TechCrunch’s earlier reporting”, which dates from July. It says the round was led by Robot Ventures and brings Nous's total funding to $158 million.

The timing lines up with Microsoft's Windows event: Microsoft's post on its agent container, MXC, lists “Hermes Agent by Nous Research” among the agents coming soon. Nous's open-source agent is now heading both for company deployments and for the Windows desktop.

Figures for Nous's revenue and its share of AI token use circulated in secondary coverage. They are not on a Nous page that could be opened from here, so they are left out.

• Claimed Nous says it raised $90 million, to build and deliver Hermes for Businesses, from investors including NVIDIA, Microsoft's M12 and Samsung. Nous Research
• Reported TechCrunch reports a Series B at a $1.5 billion valuation, led by Robot Ventures, bringing total funding to $158 million. TechCrunch
• Confirmed Microsoft lists Hermes Agent by Nous Research among agents coming soon to its MXC container on Windows. Windows Experience Blog