Nous Research raises $90 million Series B at a $1.5 billion valuation to scale Hermes Agent

Nous Research has raised $90 million in a Series B round that values the open-source AI lab at $1.5 billion. The company announced the deal on October 7, 2026. The money is earmarked for Hermes Agent, the lab’s autonomous AI assistant, along with a business-focused version and a planned mobile app. Who wrote the checks Robot Ventures led the round. The supporting cast includes NVIDIA, Microsoft’s M12, Samsung, Y Combinator, Union Square Ventures and Menlo Ventures, among others. The new raise brings Nous Research’s total capital to approximately $160 million. CEO Dillon Rolnick authored the note announcing the fundraise. The Series B follows a $50 million Series A led by Paradigm in April 2025. That round was part of an earlier package of equity and Simple Agreement for Future Tokens (SAFT) funding totaling around $70 million. A SAFT is a contract investors use to buy the right to tokens that a project expects to issue later, rather than buying shares today. Its presence in Nous Research’s earlier funding stack gives the company’s capital history a digital-asset dimension that most AI labs simply do not have. What Hermes Agent actually does Hermes Agent launched in February 2026 un...