Nous Research
Open-Source AI
Valuation
~$1B (2025)
Total Funding
$50M+
Profit Status
Research-stage
Employees
~30
About Nous Research
Nous Research is an applied AI research organization focused on open-source large language models, decentralized training, and human-aligned agents. Known for its widely used Hermes model series (fine-tuned open models), it also pioneers distributed training methods like DisTrO and Psyche that let models be trained across the internet rather than in a single data center. Nous has a strong following in the open-source and crypto-adjacent AI communities.
Company History
Founded 2023 as a collective building open-source models, Nous Research gained prominence for its Hermes fine-tunes of Llama and other base models. It pioneered decentralized and bandwidth-efficient distributed training (DisTrO, then the Psyche network), demonstrating large-model pretraining across geographically distributed hardware. In 2025 Nous raised a reported $50M round led by Paradigm at around a $1B valuation, cementing its role as a leading open-source and decentralized AI lab.
Company Timeline
2023
Founded; released early Hermes open-source fine-tunes
2024
Introduced DisTrO for bandwidth-efficient distributed training
2025
$50M round led by Paradigm at ~$1B valuation; Psyche network launched
Products & Services
Company Details
Focus Area
Open-Source AI
Stage
Founded
2023
Headquarters
New York, NY
Employees
~30
Financial Overview
Total Funding
$50M+
Valuation
~$1B (2025)
Profit Status
Research-stage
Funding Rounds
- Seed$5.2M2024Distributed Global, OSS Capital
- Series A$50M2025Paradigm, ~$1B valuation
Key Investors
Key People
- Jeffrey Quesnelle (CEO, co-founder)
- Karan Malhotra (co-founder)