Nous Research, the developer of the open-source agent Hermes, has completed a Series B funding round of $90 million

Led by Robot Ventures alongside Nvidia, M12 (Microsoft) and Samsung, the funding round is set to transform a widely downloaded app into a paid service for businesses.

Nous Research has completed a $90 million Series B round, led by Robot Ventures with participation from Nvidia, Microsoft's M12 fund, Samsung and other investors, according to the Wall Street Journal. In July, the company was still trading a round of at least $75 million; the final amount is therefore higher. It had already raised about $70 million previously, bringing its cumulative funding to around $160 million.

Founded in 2023, the start-up is known for Hermes, an open-source agent capable of browsing the web and performing tasks autonomously, which developers can install locally and modify freely. It has reportedly exceeded 22 million downloads since February.

The money must finance the transition to the company: the code remains open, but Nous intends to charge for what the major accounts require around it — security, support, reliability, integrations and data control. A proven business model in free software, applied here to agents.