Recent Funding
Founders
Jeffrey Quesnelle

Jeffrey Quesnelle

Founder, Nous Research ·

Largest round$90MNous Research · 2026

About Jeffrey

Jeffrey Quesnelle is the co-founder and CTO of Nous Research, an AI lab focused on open-source AI training and research. He co-founded Nous Research in 2023 with Karan Malhotra, Ryan Teknium, and Shivani Mitra. Before Nous Research, he spent over a decade in automotive software engineering, rising to Director of Software Development at Intrepid Control Systems. His background also includes cryptography research, particularly on the privacy limits of Zcash.

Strengths: founder archetype

Technical builderResearcherCommunity builder

Technical builder 3

Researcher 2

Community builder 1

Young outlier –

Capital allocator –

Quant / trader –

Domain operator –

Repeat founder –

one sourced signal · hover a cell for it, click for the source

Why technical builder

Jeffrey Quesnelle's career path demonstrates a strong technical foundation, moving from automotive software development to deep cryptography research, and then applying this expertise to build open-source AI systems. His focus on decentralized AI and open access to intelligence, combined with his academic work on privacy, highlights a commitment to building robust and verifiable technical solutions.

The signals behind it 4

Jeffrey Quesnelle is the co-founder and CTO of Nous Research, known for his work on decentralized AI training systems and his earlier research into the privacy limits of Zcash.Technical builder · Researcher
U
He holds an M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Michigan-Dearborn and spent over a decade in automotive software engineering before moving into blockchain and AI.Technical builder
U
His 2017 arXiv paper , "On the Linkability of Zcash Transactions," first examined how transaction metadata could undermine the cryptography behind Zcash's privacy guarantees, work he later expanded into his 2018 master'sResearcher
U
At Nous Research, Quesnelle's role as co-founder and CTO puts him at the center of the company's open-source AI releases, including literAI, a tool for generating visual podcasts from open-source AI models, transformers-Technical builder · Community builder
U

PATH · 11 MILESTONES

Jeffrey Quesnelle | Automotive Software to Decentralized AI Founder

2004 → 2026·4phases·nowNOUS RESEARCH

Every tag links its source.

Network

Backed by 2

RRobot VenturesLed Nous Research's Series B+, 2026

PParadigmLed Nous Research's Seed, 2025

JQJeffrey Quesnelle

Built and backed 1

NNous ResearchFounder

Background

Education M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Michigan-Dearborn
U
Education Undergraduate degree in Computer Science and Mathematics from Oakland University
U
Notable work Research into the privacy limits of Zcash, including his 2017 arXiv paper "On the Linkability of Zcash Transactions" and his 2018 master's thesis "An Analysis of Anonymity in the Zcash Cryptocurrency."
U
Notable work Co-founder and CTO of Nous Research, focusing on open-source AI releases like literAI, transformers-openai-api, and txt2imghd.
U
Earlier jobs Director of Software Development at Intrepid Control Systems from 2017 to June 2022
U
Earlier jobs Principal Engineer at Eden Network since May 2021
U

Timeline, line by line 11

Nous Research raised $90M (Series B+), led by Robot Ventures.Oct 7, 2026
W
Interviewed on Raoul Pal's The Journey Man podcast about AI race and decentralized AIJan 8, 2026
U
Nous Research raised $65M (Seed), led by Paradigm.Apr 29, 2025
F
Interviewed on Sina Habibian's podcast about Nous Research's technical workMar 18, 2025
U
Co-founded Nous Research with Karan Malhotra, Ryan Teknium, and Shivani Mitra2023
S
Left Director of Software Development role at Intrepid Control SystemsJun 2022
U
Became Principal Engineer at Eden NetworkMay 2021
U
Co-founded Nous Research2020
U
Published arXiv paper "On the Linkability of Zcash Transactions"2017
U
Became Director of Software Development at Intrepid Control Systems2017
U
Started as a programming intern at Intrepid Control Systems2004
U

In their words

“there is no realistic way to stop the AI race itself, but framed Nous Research's mission around keeping AI development out of the hands of a small number of big companies or governments, calling decentralized, open-source AI his answer to that risk.”On the AI race and the mission of Nous Research · Jan 8, 2026
U

Team at Nous Research

emozillaCo-founder/cto@theemozilla
X
Teknium 🪽Cofounder@Teknium
X
DillCeo@dillonrolnick
X
Calvin NgTeam member@calvinnwq
X
𝖕𝖍𝖗𝖆𝖌𝖌Team member@phragg
X

Interviews and coverage

Nous Research confirms $1.5 billion valuation and launches business AI agentsStartup Fortune · Oct 7, 2026
S
Hermes agent maker Nous Research in talks for new funding at $1.5B valuationTechCrunch · Jul 13, 2026
T
Nous Research, maker of OpenClaws' American rival Hermes agent, in talks to raise new funding at $1.5 bilThe Times of India · Jul 14, 2026
T
Nous Research Raises $90 Million for Open-Source A.I. Agent Hermeswww.trendingtopics.eu · Oct 8, 2026
T
Nous Research Lands $65M to Champion Open-Source Approach to AI DevelopmentAI Insider · Apr 30, 2025
T
Jeffrey Quesnelle: The Co-Founder of Nous ResearchUseTheBitcoin · Jul 1, 2026
U

How this is researched

Researched from public pages: press, interviews, the company's site and the founder's own posts. Each source logo links the page that states the row; anything we couldn't source is left out. The archetype is our reading of that record, from a fixed set so founders can be compared. Updated Oct 12, 2026.