Hermes agent maker Nous Research in talks for new funding at $1.5B valuation
Key Takeaways
- Nous Research, maker of the open-source Hermes agent, is finalizing a new funding round at a $1.5 billion valuation, according to TechCrunch, citing three sources familiar with the deal.
- TechCrunch reports the round is being led by Robot Ventures, with significant participation from USV and other prominent investors, and the company is raising at least $75 million.
- Before this round, Nous Research had raised a total of $70 million from backers including Paradigm, Robot Ventures, North Island Ventures, OSS Capital, and Balaji Srinivasan, according to Crunchbase figures cited by TechCrunch.
What’s Happening With Nous Research’s New Round
Nous Research, the company behind the open-source AI agent Hermes, is in the process of closing a new financing round, according to TechCrunch, which cited three sources with knowledge of the deal. The outlet reported that the round is being led by Robot Ventures, with significant participation from USV and other unnamed but prominent investors, and that the raise values the company at $1.5 billion.
According to TechCrunch, the company is seeking at least $75 million in this round and has seen a high level of investor interest. Both Nous Research and USV declined to comment when approached by TechCrunch, and Robot Ventures did not respond to the outlet’s request for comment, meaning the precise final terms of the deal remain unconfirmed by the company itself.
Nous Research was founded in 2023 by Jeffrey Quesnelle, Karan Malhotra, Ryan Teknium, and Shivani Mitra. Per Crunchbase data referenced by TechCrunch, the startup had previously raised a combined $70 million from investors including Paradigm, Robot Ventures, North Island Ventures, OSS Capital, and angel investor Balaji Srinivasan. If the new round closes as described, it would represent a substantial step up from that prior fundraising history, both in the amount raised and in the valuation attached to the company.
Why Hermes and the Agent Race Matter
The timing of this funding talk is tied to the product Nous Research is best known for: Hermes, an AI agent that the company released not long after a rival agent called Openclaw went viral, per TechCrunch. Openclaw is described as an agent that runs locally on a user’s PC and can complete tasks on their behalf, and Hermes emerged as a direct competitor to it.
TechCrunch notes that one distinguishing feature of Hermes is that it shipped with built-in “skills” from the outset, including web search, coding, and image understanding. The agent was also designed to learn from how people use it and expand its own skill set without requiring manual updates from developers. Beyond the agent itself, Nous Research has also released language models focused on coding and math, according to the source article.
Like Openclaw, Hermes allows users to automate tasks and interact with their agents through everyday messaging apps such as Telegram and Discord, letting people run AI agents continuously and remotely rather than only through a dedicated interface. This category of always-on, chat-integrated agents has been gaining traction, TechCrunch reports, as users look for tools that operate in the background without constant supervision.
Hermes has built a large following in the open-source developer community. TechCrunch reports the project has amassed roughly 214,000 stars and nearly 40,000 forks on GitHub, figures that place it among the more widely adopted open-source AI agent projects. Developers can run Hermes either on their own desktop machines or on a virtual private server, giving them flexibility over where and how the agent operates.
The Business Model Behind the Open-Source Project
While Hermes is open-source, Nous Research also monetizes the project through a cloud-hosted version, which TechCrunch describes as a more convenient option for users who prefer not to set up and maintain the agent on their own hardware. According to the source article, this hosted version is offered through paid tiers ranging from $20 to $200 a month, giving the company a direct revenue stream layered on top of its open-source distribution.
Sources told TechCrunch that the new capital is intended to help Nous Research expand both its product lineup around Hermes and its broader business model. For readers tracking the AI economy, this deal is another data point showing that investors are willing to place large valuations on companies building open-source AI agents with a hosted, paid layer on top — a model that blends community-driven adoption with a more conventional subscription business.
The deal also fits into a wider pattern of venture capital flowing into AI agent startups at a rapid pace, a trend that has drawn attention across both traditional tech and crypto-adjacent investment circles, given that agent-based automation is often discussed alongside decentralized and on-chain applications. Investors such as Paradigm, which is known for backing crypto and blockchain-related ventures, are already among Nous Research’s existing shareholders, according to Crunchbase data cited by TechCrunch, underscoring some overlap between the AI agent funding wave and investors who are also active in crypto markets.
Hype Check
Claim: Nous Research is closing a major new funding round at a $1.5 billion valuation, backed by Robot Ventures, USV, and other prominent investors, per TechCrunch. Reality: The figures come from three sources described by TechCrunch as having knowledge of the deal, not from confirmations by Nous Research, USV, or Robot Ventures, all of which either declined to comment or did not respond when TechCrunch sought verification. The underlying product details — Hermes’ skills, its GitHub following of roughly 214,000 stars, and its $20-$200 monthly hosted tiers — are documented in the source article, but the specific terms of this new financing round remain unconfirmed by the parties involved as of TechCrunch’s reporting. Verdict: Mixed. This is not financial advice.
Source
Researched with AI assistance, fact-checked and edited by a human. Not financial advice.