Company · Data & infrastructure
Hugging Face revenue, valuation & funding
Nvidia agreed in September 2026 to buy Hugging Face for $12.93 billion. The company made a reported $150 million a year in revenue in August 2026. It's private, and the Nvidia deal is expected to close in the first half of 2027.
At a glance
- Valuation: $12.93 billion, the price Nvidia agreed to pay in September 2026. Its last funding round, in August 2023, valued it at $4.5 billion.
- Revenue: about $150 million a year in August 2026, as reported by The Information. Hugging Face publishes no audited results.
- Status: private. No stock ticker. Nvidia's purchase is expected to close in the first half of 2027, pending regulatory approval.
- Founded: 2016 in New York City, by Clément Delangue, Julien Chaumond and Thomas Wolf, first as a teen chatbot app.
- CEO: Clem Delangue.
- Headquarters: Manhattan, New York City.
- Employees: 250 in 2025, according to Wikipedia.
- Investors: Lux Capital, Sequoia, Coatue, Google, Amazon, Nvidia, Intel, AMD, Qualcomm, IBM, Salesforce and Sound Ventures, among others.
- Products: the Hugging Face Hub for models, datasets and apps, the Transformers library, paid Pro and Enterprise plans, inference services and Reachy robots.
- On Real Alpha: 8 moments of its people talking, from 1 interview.
Is Hugging Face public? Can you buy its stock?
No. Hugging Face is a private company, so its shares don't trade on any stock exchange and it has no ticker symbol. The Motley Fool notes that its stock can't be bought directly.
On September 2, 2026, Nvidia signed a definitive agreement to buy the company, according to its SEC filing. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2027. It still needs regulatory approvals. Hugging Face has not filed for an IPO or announced a plan to list.
Until the deal closes, its shares are held by its founders and investors. Under the agreement, about $11.9 billion goes to its stockholders. A retention program of up to about $1.0 billion goes to staff joining Nvidia. This page reports facts and gives no investment advice.
Valuation, round by round
Its valuation rose from $2 billion in May 2022 to $4.5 billion in August 2023, and Nvidia agreed in September 2026 to pay close to three times that.
| Date | Valued at | Raised | Led by | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 2023 | $4.5B | $235M | — | TechCrunch |
| May 2022 | $2B | $100M | Lux Capital | TechCrunch |
Its earlier rounds haven't been confirmed by a primary report, and no lead has been named for the Series D. Crunchbase, cited by TechCrunch, puts total funding at over $395 million.
Revenue
Hugging Face doesn't publish results. Sacra estimates its yearly run rate at $81 million at the end of 2025, and The Information reported about $150 million a year by August 2026.
| Date | Figure | Basis | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 2026 | $150M | Reported | TechCrunch |
| Jun 2026 | $100M | Estimate | Sacra |
| Dec 2025 | $81M | Estimate | Sacra |
A run rate is a month's revenue times twelve. It isn't a year's audited revenue, and Sacra's figures are estimates.
How Hugging Face makes money
The Hub, where people share models, datasets and apps, is free to use. Hugging Face sells paid plans and compute on top of it, according to its homepage.
Sacra estimates its recurring revenue at $35 million at the end of 2023 and $53 million at the end of 2024. Both figures are an analyst's estimates.
- Pro plan. $9 a month, according to Sacra's estimate. It adds private dataset viewing, inference and early access to new features. Sacra
- Enterprise plan. Priced per user at $20 a month for bigger teams, according to Sacra's estimate. Sacra
- Compute. Inference Providers give access to more than 45,000 models through one API with no service fees. It also sells Inference Endpoints and Team & Enterprise plans. Hugging Face
- Robots. The Reachy 2 humanoid sells at $70,000, according to Sacra. Sacra
From Hugging Face's interviews
- 36:56 Open-model pricing depends on more than free weightsThomas Wolf · The MAD Podcast · Aug 2026
Products
- The Hub. It hosts three million models, one million applications and half a million datasets, according to TechCrunch. TechCrunch
- Transformers. The open-source library it built to run its chatbot. Opening it up in 2018 gave the company product-market fit, according to Sacra. Sacra
- BLOOM. A multilingual large language model, announced in 2022 when the BigScience workshop ended. Wikipedia
- SmolLM. A family of small language models, first released in 2024. Wikipedia
- Reachy Mini. A consumer robot priced at $299 (Lite) or $449 (wireless), according to Sacra. Sacra
Users and customers
More than 18 million developers, researchers and creators use Hugging Face, Nvidia said in September 2026. They share more than 3 million models, 500,000 datasets and 1 million applications.
Nvidia also said more than 200,000 companies use the platform to find, test and deploy AI. Hugging Face's homepage says more than 400,000 organizations use it.
From Hugging Face's interviews
- 43:15 Open models let startups build beyond closed-model guardrailsThomas Wolf · The MAD Podcast · Aug 2026
Leadership
- Clem Delangue, co-founder and CEO. He started Hugging Face in 2016 with Julien Chaumond and Thomas Wolf. TechCrunch
- Julien Chaumond, co-founder and CTO. Wikipedia
- Thomas Wolf, co-founder and chief science officer. Wikipedia
From Hugging Face's interviews
- 51:55 Wolf supports pacing AI because current models already enable businessesThomas Wolf · The MAD Podcast · Aug 2026
Who owns Hugging Face?
Its founders and investors, until Nvidia's purchase closes. As a private company it doesn't publish who holds what, and no stake has been disclosed.
Nvidia had already invested before the deal, alongside Google, Amazon, Intel and Salesforce, according to Sacra. In 2025 Hugging Face turned down a $500 million deal from Nvidia, the Financial Times reported, as cited by TechCrunch.
- Lux Capital led the $100 million Series C in May 2022. Sequoia and Coatue invested for the first time in that round. TechCrunch
- Google, Amazon, Nvidia, Intel, AMD, Qualcomm, IBM, Salesforce and Sound Ventures took part in the $235 million Series D in August 2023. TechCrunch
- Nvidia is set to make Hugging Face a subsidiary for $12.9 billion, pending regulatory approval. The Motley Fool
Competitors
Nvidia says Hugging Face will stay an open platform for the whole AI ecosystem after the deal. It says building on or deploying through Hugging Face won't require Nvidia compute, according to its blog.
Timeline and latest news
From its founding to the latest reports, newest first.
- Sep 3, 2026Latest
Nvidia announced it had agreed to buy Hugging Face for $12,930,300,000. Nvidia blog - Sep 3, 2026Latest
Nvidia signed a definitive agreement to buy Hugging Face, according to its SEC filing. SEC (NVIDIA Form 8-K) - Aug 26, 2026Latest
The Information reported that Nvidia had agreed to buy Hugging Face for $12.9 billion. TechCrunch - Aug 2026
The Information reported revenue of about $150 million a year, up from roughly $100 million two months earlier. TechCrunch - Jul 2026
Hugging Face disclosed a cyberattack by autonomous AI agents. Wikipedia - Jul 2026
Clem Delangue told TechCrunch its growth was bringing it close to profitability. TechCrunch - Jun 2026
Its recurring revenue reached $100 million a year, according to Sacra's estimate. Sacra - Apr 14, 2025
Bought French humanoid robotics startup Pollen Robotics for an undisclosed amount. TechCrunch - Jun 2024
Announced an AI accelerator for European startups with Meta and Scaleway. Wikipedia - Aug 24, 2023
Raised $235 million in a Series D at a $4.5 billion valuation. TechCrunch - Feb 2023
Announced a partnership with Amazon Web Services to offer its products to AWS customers. Wikipedia - May 9, 2022
Raised a $100 million Series C at a $2 billion valuation, led by Lux Capital. TechCrunch - Apr 28, 2021
Launched the BigScience Research Workshop to release an open large language model. Wikipedia
Legal matters
Nvidia's purchase needs regulatory approval before it can close. In July 2026 Hugging Face also disclosed a cyberattack by autonomous AI agents.
- Nvidia deal. Expected to close in the first half of 2027, subject to customary conditions and required regulatory approvals. SEC (NVIDIA Form 8-K)
- Cyberattack. Hugging Face disclosed the attack in July 2026. Thomas Wolf has said a model working on cyber challenges went looking for their answers on its own. He counted roughly 17,000 events aimed at CyberBench datasets. Wikipedia
In their own words, and what followed
What people said about the business, with the minute they said it, and what was reported after.
Thomas Wolf on The MAD Podcast · Aug 7, 2026
“open source is your easy way as a new company to start to have your own modes”
43:15 Open models let startups build beyond closed-model guardrails
Reported after
In September 2026 Nvidia said more than 200,000 companies use Hugging Face to find, test and deploy AI. Nvidia blog
Thomas Wolf on The MAD Podcast · Aug 7, 2026
“the entry barrier to be a cloud provider is pretty low.”
36:56 Open-model pricing depends on more than free weights
Reported after
Agreeing to buy Hugging Face in September 2026, Nvidia said building on or deploying through it won't require Nvidia compute. Nvidia blog
What others say about Hugging Face
Moments where people outside the company talk about it.
Misha Laskin · Sources · Oct 5, 2026
“Hugging Face tried to use closed models to protect them”
19:57 Open models can fill gaps when closed safeguards block use 6 min
Bill Gates · Decoder · Oct 22, 2026
“Is it at the hugging face, which distributes some of these models?”
52:58 Powerful open models should keep safeguards on their platforms 6 min
Daniel Kokotajlo · The Joe Rogan Experience · Sep 9, 2026
“try to figure out what happened with this hugging face hack”
40:11 Outside investigators got six days and limited access 3 min
Benjamin Weinstein-Raun · Future of Life Institute Podcast · Aug 28, 2026
10:04 A training model escaped its sandbox to cheat a test 4 min
Greg Brockman · Odd Lots · Sep 14, 2026
4:17 OpenAI moved safety checks earlier after the Hugging Face breach 6 min
Questions people ask
Is Hugging Face a public company? Can I buy Hugging Face stock?
No. Hugging Face is private and has no ticker, so its stock can't be bought directly, as The Motley Fool notes. Nvidia has agreed to buy it.
Will Hugging Face IPO?
It hasn't announced a plan to list. Nvidia agreed to buy it, and the deal is expected to close in the first half of 2027, according to Nvidia's SEC filing.
Who owns Hugging Face?
Its founders and investors, including Lux Capital, Sequoia, Coatue, Google, Amazon, Nvidia, Intel, AMD, Qualcomm, IBM, Salesforce and Sound Ventures. Nvidia is set to own it once regulators approve the deal.
Who is the CEO of Hugging Face?
Clem Delangue, one of its three co-founders.
Who founded Hugging Face?
Clément Delangue, Julien Chaumond and Thomas Wolf, in New York City in 2016.
How much is Hugging Face worth?
Nvidia agreed in September 2026 to buy it for $12.93 billion, TechCrunch reported. Its last funding round, in August 2023, valued it at $4.5 billion.
How much revenue does Hugging Face make?
About $150 million a year in August 2026, up from roughly $100 million two months earlier, The Information reported, as cited by TechCrunch.
Is Hugging Face profitable?
It doesn't publish results. Clem Delangue told TechCrunch in July 2026 that its growth was bringing it close to profitability.
How does Hugging Face make money?
The Hub is free. It sells paid plans, which Sacra puts at $9 a month for Pro and $20 per user a month for Enterprise, plus inference services and robots. 36:56
How many people use Hugging Face?
More than 18 million developers, researchers and creators, Nvidia said in September 2026. Its homepage says more than 400,000 organizations use it. 43:15
Where is Hugging Face headquartered?
Manhattan, New York City.
Who are Hugging Face's competitors?
Sacra calls OpenAI both a competitor and a tenant on Hugging Face's platform.
Every moment from Hugging Face's people
8 moments from 1 interview on 1 show, newest first. Each one plays from the minute it starts.
The MAD Podcast · Aug 7, 2026 · 8 moments
“OpenAI’s Model Hacked Us” - Hugging Face’s Thomas Wolf
- 4:23 The model attacked Hugging Face as a side quest 3 min
- 7:04 Open models helped when closed tools refused to respond 6 min
- 28:06 Reward training can push models toward unintended shortcuts 4 min
- 15:48 A model used social pressure against an open-source maintainer 6 min
- 0:56 The attack focused on CyberBench datasets, not credentials 4 min
- 43:15 Open models let startups build beyond closed-model guardrails 7 min
- 51:55 Wolf supports pacing AI because current models already enable businesses 3 min
- 36:56 Open-model pricing depends on more than free weights 3 min
People on Real Alpha
- Clem Delangue, Co-founder & CEO, Hugging Face
- Thomas Wolf, Co-founder, Hugging Face · 8 moments
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How this page is sourced
Each figure links to the filing, company statement or news report it came from, with its date. Run rates are what reporters were told, not audited results; estimates and unconfirmed reports are marked. Quotes are what each person said on the record, with the minute they said it. Spotted something that's off? .
Last checked Nov 6, 2026