The open-source agent lab just got a $1.5b valuation. nous research closed a $90m series b led by…
the open-source agent lab just got a $1.5b valuation. nous research closed a $90m series b led by robot ventures on oct 8, with nvidia, usv and samsung in the round, after its hermes agent was cloned over 24 million times.
the open agent economy now has its own unicorn.
Context
TechCrunch reported on October 7, 2026 that Nous Research, which develops the open-source Hermes agent, raised a $90 million Series B at a $1.5 billion valuation. It says the round was led by Robot Ventures with Nvidia, Union Square Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Samsung and 1789 Capital, and brings total funding to $158 million. The money funds a push into enterprise with 'Hermes for Businesses'.
Nous's own note says Hermes has been cloned over 24 million times and, by its best internal estimates, drives approximately 2.5% of global token usage. Its list of investors includes NVIDIA, Microsoft's M12, Samsung, Robot Ventures, Union Square Ventures, Y Combinator and Menlo Ventures.
The $90 million, the $1.5 billion valuation, the Robot Ventures lead and the 24 million clones match the sources. The 24 million is Nous's own estimate. Another report cited in the coverage read gives a close but different figure of 22 million-plus downloads from the Wall Street Journal, and 'cloned' is not the same as 'used'.
The sources are dated October 7, while the note says the round closed on October 8. The pages read do not give a closing date, so the date in the note is unsupported here, not refuted.
'The open agent economy now has its own unicorn' is the author's line. 'Unicorn' is a valuation label, and the sources read do not use it.
Related work
- A Note on Our Fundraise (Nous Research, October 7, 2026) ↗Nous's own account of the round, the investors and the 24 million figure.
- Nous Research confirms it hit $1.5B valuation, launches AI agents for business users (TechCrunch, October 7, 2026) ↗Independent report with the lead investor, total funding and the enterprise product.
Watch next
- Check how Nous measures clones versus active use. Compare the WSJ figure with Nous's.
Sources
Provenance
The note above is reproduced unedited from the original post, first published on Threads on 9 October 2026 at 04:33 IST. Sources are the papers and datasets the note draws on.
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