Nous Raises $75M for AI Agent Hermes

Nous Research, the creators of the open-source Hermes agent, is reportedly securing a new funding round led by Robot Ventures, with substantial investment from USV and others. This latest investment is expected to value the company at $1.5 billion and involves raising at least $75 million, indicating strong investor interest. The funding follows closely on the heels of their $50 million Series A round, which concluded less than three months prior.

The substantial capital injection is earmarked for further development and business model expansion of their flagship product, Hermes. Launched as a competitor to Openclaw, Hermes is an AI agent capable of performing tasks locally on a PC or via a cloud-hosted version. It differentiates itself with integrated 'skills' like web search and coding, and an ability to learn and build new skills autonomously. Its open-source nature has contributed to its widespread adoption, evidenced by its popularity on GitHub.

Founded in 2023, Nous Research has already amassed considerable funding prior to this reported round. The company also contributes to a decentralized network for compute and training, and has released specialized language models for coding and mathematics. The continuous development and accessibility of tools like Hermes highlight the growing demand for AI agents that can automate tasks and operate remotely around the clock.