Nous Research closed a $90 million Series B at a $1.5 billion valuation and launched Hermes for Businesses, a version of its open-source agent for corporate deployment. The three-year-old startup has now raised $158 million in total funding. Its Hermes agent has been cloned more than 24 million times and accounts for roughly 2.5% of global AI token usage by company estimates. For business buyers, this matters because a widely tested open agent now comes packaged for private multi-step workflows.
Series B terms and Hermes for Businesses
The round was led by Robot Ventures, with participation from Nvidia, Union Square Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Samsung and 1789 Capital. The last firm counts Donald Trump Jr. among its partners, which adds a political profile to the investor list. Confirmation of the financing followed earlier reporting by TechCrunch about the valuation and round size. The structure remains a classic venture Series B, aimed at scaling sales and enterprise delivery rather than early research. That investor mix combines crypto-native capital, traditional venture firms and corporate strategics.
Hermes for Businesses lets companies deploy customized AI agents that handle multi-step workflows while keeping data private and secure. The pitch builds directly on the open-source Hermes agent already popular with developers and individual users. Customization means firms can adapt behavior and integrations without sending sensitive data outside their perimeter. Multi-step execution points to tasks that chain research, drafting and tool calls instead of single answers. Privacy and security sit at the center of the offer, a requirement for regulated departments and large data owners.
Revenue dynamics frame the timing of the enterprise move. Nous stood at roughly $36 million in annualized revenue by mid-September 2026 and expects to pass $100 million before the end of 2026, according to The Wall Street Journal. Such a trajectory implies almost tripling output in one quarter, a pace that usually requires larger contracts. Open-source distribution provides the top of the funnel, with 24 million clones creating familiarity among engineers. Converting that grassroots use into paid business deployments becomes the central commercial task for the next months.
What the enterprise launch means for buyers
For companies adopting AI, Hermes for Businesses widens the choice beyond closed models from large vendors. An open-source lineage allows technical teams to inspect behavior, reuse community work and tailor agents to internal processes. Small firms gain access to agent tooling already proven in developer circles without building orchestration from scratch. Large organizations can standardize on a familiar agent while adding access controls and data boundaries. The practical effect shows up in procurement, where IT compares Hermes against proprietary copilots on integration effort and control.
Buyers still need to verify how privacy is implemented in each deployment option. The source describes private and secure handling of company data but does not detail hosting models, retention rules or certification. Multi-step reliability also needs testing on real workflows, including error rates, human review points and cost per run at 2.5% scale of token use. Dependence on outside investors such as Nvidia and Samsung may shape hardware optimization and partnerships. Key questions cover support terms, update cadence for the open core and limits on customization.
The marker to watch is the $100 million revenue threshold before the end of 2026. Reaching it would confirm that Hermes for Businesses converts open-source reach into enterprise contracts. Missing it would suggest longer sales cycles or pricing pressure from incumbents. The next financing disclosures and customer references will show which path holds. For business planners, that number offers a clear test of demand for open agents in corporate work.
