Nous Research has raised $90 million to develop a business version of Hermes, its open-source AI agent. The company says the product will let businesses choose models by price and goal, keep AI use private and own company knowledge. The investment is intended to fund that development, while the company has not stated a valuation.
How did Nous Research begin?
Nous Research formed in 2023, according to chief executive Dillon Rolnick’s note on the company website. Rolnick described its early work as fine-tuning Meta Llama models so they could follow each user’s views. The company also published YaRN, a method for extending open models’ context windows at lower cost. That work provides background on the open-model approach behind Hermes, though the funding announcement centres on a business product.
Hermes was released under the MIT licence in February, the source reports. An open-source licence makes software available for others to use under its terms. The agent can remember projects, create reusable skills as it works and allow users to select the models it runs. It is available on macOS, Windows and Linux, and through Telegram, Slack and WhatsApp, according to the company website.
What does the new product promise?
Nous Research says Hermes for Businesses will give companies choices over models based on price and goal. The company also says businesses will be able to keep their AI use private and own their company knowledge. Those are the stated aims for the commercial version, rather than independently verified outcomes. Details on how the product will deliver those functions were not included in the supplied account.
The funding round includes Nvidia, Microsoft’s M12, Samsung, Robot Ventures, Union Square Ventures, Y Combinator and Menlo Ventures, according to Rolnick’s note. The account identifies those investors but does not describe their individual contributions or terms. It also does not identify a lead investor. For readers assessing the deal, the disclosed amount is clear, while the allocation among investors is not.
What has Nous disclosed about scale?
Nous Research says Hermes has been cloned more than 24 million times. The company also estimates internally that the agent accounts for about 2.5% of global token usage. These figures are company claims, and the source does not provide an independent method for checking them. The Wall Street Journal separately reported more than 22 million downloads since February.
The two usage figures describe different measures: clones and downloads. The supplied account does not explain their counting methods or why the totals differ. It also does not establish that either measure translates into business customers or revenue. Those distinctions matter when judging the commercial opportunity the new funding is meant to support.
What is still unconfirmed?
The Wall Street Journal reported that the round values Nous Research at $1.5 billion. Nous Research did not give a valuation, so that figure remains attributed reporting rather than a company-confirmed term. The source also gives no timetable for the business product, funding allocation or customer availability. Those details will be needed to assess how the financing translates into a commercial launch.
The next evidence to watch is a company update with product specifics and a release schedule. Further disclosure could also clarify which models businesses may choose and how privacy and company knowledge ownership will work. Until then, the stated plan is to use the $90 million to build Hermes for Businesses. The valuation should continue to be described as reported, not confirmed by Nous Research.