Nous Research has confirmed a $90 million Series B at a $1.5 billion valuation, TechCrunch reported, vaulting the three-year-old AI startup into unicorn territory as the race to put agents inside businesses heats up.
The round was led by Robot Ventures, with participation from Nvidia, Union Square Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Samsung and 1789 Capital, the firm where Donald Trump Jr. is a partner. The financing brings the startup's total funding to $158 million.
Nous built its following with Hermes, an open-source AI agent that has been cloned more than 24 million times and, by the company's estimates, drives roughly 2.5% of global AI token usage. The new capital funds a push into the enterprise with "Hermes for Businesses," letting companies deploy customized agents that handle multi-step workflows while keeping their data private and secure.
The company says it was at roughly $36 million in annualized revenue by mid-September 2026 and expects to pass $100 million before year-end, according to the Wall Street Journal — a growth curve that helps explain why investors are paying up for agent infrastructure.
