Nous Research Seeks $75M Funding at $1.5B Valuation for Hermes AI Agent Expansion

Nous Research, the developer of the Hermes AI agent, is in talks to secure new funding at a $1.5 billion valuation, aiming to raise at least $75 million to scale its open-source AI agent. This round, led by Robot Ventures with participation from Union Square Ventures (USV), signals escalating investor conviction in the open-source AI agent sector.

Nous Research's Funding Trajectory and Market Position

Founded in 2023, Nous Research has quickly gained traction, having previously secured $70 million from investors. The current funding talks, reported on July 13, 2026, underscore a significant valuation increase, positioning the company as a notable contender in the AI agent landscape. This development suggests a growing market interest in open-source alternatives to proprietary AI agents developed by larger, established AI laboratories.

Hermes AI Agent: Local Operation and Cloud Tiers

The Hermes AI agent is designed to operate locally on desktops or Virtual Private Servers (VPS), offering users control over their data and processing. In addition to its local capabilities, Hermes provides cloud-hosted tiers, with monthly subscriptions ranging from $20 to $200. This dual approach allows for flexibility, catering to both users who prefer local execution and those who require cloud-based services.

Recent Hermes Agent Updates

Recent updates to the Hermes agent include the addition of six new optional skills, such as Shopify (Admin + Storefront GraphQL), here.now, and a shop-app personal shopping assistant. The platform has also introduced an Anthropic financial-services bundle and a kanban-video-orchestrator. Skill bundles now enable the loading of entire workflows with a single slash command. Furthermore, the Ink TUI has received a multi-session orchestrator, and two new image generation providers, Krea 2 Medium + Large and FAL (ported to a plugin), have been integrated, alongside the Nous-approved MCP cat.

Developer Adoption and Community Engagement

Hermes has demonstrated substantial grassroots developer adoption since its launch. The project has accumulated approximately 214,000 GitHub stars and nearly 40,000 forks, indicating a strong community interest and active engagement in its development. This level of adoption highlights the agent's appeal within the developer community and its potential to foster collaborative innovation in the open-source AI space.

Leadership and Future Outlook

Nous Research was co-founded by Jeffrey Quesnelle, Karan Malhotra, Ryan Teknium, and Shivani Mitra. The anticipated new capital infusion is specifically earmarked to scale the Hermes AI agent, suggesting a strategic focus on enhancing its capabilities and expanding its market reach. The $1.5 billion valuation reflects investor conviction in the potential of open-source AI agents to challenge established proprietary solutions.

Conclusion

The ongoing funding discussions for Nous Research at a $1.5 billion valuation mark a significant moment for the Hermes AI agent and the broader open-source AI sector. With plans to expand its product and business model, Nous Research aims to further solidify its position as a viable alternative to proprietary AI solutions. The substantial developer adoption of Hermes underscores its relevance and potential for continued growth in the evolving landscape of AI news and AI tools.

Sources

• https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent
• Releases · NousResearch/hermes-agent - GitHub
• https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/13/hermes-agent-maker-nous-research-in-talks-for-new-funding-at-1-5b-valuation/
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