Ollama Raises $65M as Open-Source AI Tool Surges to 9 Million Users

Funding Details and User Growth Metrics

Ollama, the command-line tool that simplifies running large language models on local machines, has secured $65 million in new funding, according to TechCrunch’s July 9, 2026 report. The round arrives as the project approaches a staggering 9 million users, cementing its status as one of the fastest-growing developer tools in the AI ecosystem. While the exact valuation was not disclosed, the size of the investment reflects investor confidence in the open-source infrastructure layer of the generative AI stack, which has often been overshadowed by model providers and cloud hyperscalers.

No specific lead investor was named in initial reports, but the raise is notable for a project that began as a side effort by a former Meta engineer and quickly evolved into a de facto standard for offline LLM experimentation. The 9-million-user milestone represents more than tenfold growth from late 2024, when Ollama garnered a few hundred thousand monthly downloads. This velocity underscores a fundamental shift: developers increasingly want the control, privacy, and cost predictability that local inference provides.