China’s Manus raises over $500M in first funding round since split with Meta
Quick Answer
Chinese AI lab Manus, under Butterfly Effect, raised over $500 million in its first funding round since its split from Meta.
Quick Take
The funding, led by Boyu Capital and IDG Capital, aims to support Manus's expansion and new product launches, including Manus 2.0 and Cue, a personal AI agent app.
Key Points
- Funding round raised over $500 million, led by Boyu Capital and IDG Capital.
- Manus plans to continue hiring domestically and internationally.
- Company aims for a $4 billion valuation after previous talks with investors.
- Launched Manus 2.0 with new architecture and capabilities.
- Cue app allows personal AI agents to manage tasks and communications.
DeepSignal Analysis
What happened
Chinese AI lab Manus, under Butterfly Effect, has raised over $500 million in its first funding round since its split from Meta. The funding was led by Boyu Capital and IDG Capital, with participation from existing shareholders like Tencent. Manus aims to expand its operations and launch new products, including Manus 2.0 and Cue.
Key evidence
- Manus's parent company, Butterfly Effect, announced the funding round via WeChat, marking the first since Meta's acquisition attempt was halted.
- The funding round was led by Boyu Capital and IDG Capital, with participation from existing shareholders such as Tencent and HSG.
- Manus is reportedly considering going public in Hong Kong, following its independent operations after the Meta deal was unwound.
Why it matters
This funding round is significant as it reflects investor confidence in Manus following its split from Meta, which was a major acquisition attempt. The capital raised will support Manus's growth and product development, indicating a potential shift in the competitive landscape of AI products. The company's focus on expanding its workforce and launching new applications may enhance its market position against other AI firms.
📖 Reader Mode
~2 min readChinese AI lab Manus’ parent company, Butterfly Effect, said on Thursday in a WeChat post that it has raised more than $500 million, the company’s first funding round since Meta was forced to call off its $2 billion acquisition of the startup.
Boyu Capital and IDG Capital led the funding round, and existing shareholders Tencent, HSG (formerly known as Sequoia China), ZhenFund, and others also participated. The AI company said it will continue hiring both at home and abroad.
Manus did not disclose its valuation, but last month was said to be in talks with investors to raise $500 million at a $4 billion valuation.
Manus, which went viral following a demo of its AI agent last year, relocated its staff to Singapore in mid-2025 before announcing a $2 billion acquisition deal with Meta that December. The startup was said to be pulling in annual recurring revenue of over $100 million at the time.
In April, Chinese authorities ordered the AI startup to unwind the deal amid intensifying worries in China over losing AI talent and researchers to the West.
Manus in August resumed independent operations following the end of the Meta deal, and said it was required to delete some user data as part of the split. The company is also reported to be considering going public in Hong Kong, according to the report.
Manus did not respond to TechCrunch’s questions about its valuation.
Manus makes AI products and agents similar to what companies like Cursor, Lovable, and Replit offer. It offers a chatbot and vibe-coding tools to let users build apps and websites, create designs and presentations, generate video, and more.
The company recently launched Manus 2.0, which it says brings a new architecture with new products and capabilities built around a new harness. It also introduced Cue, a stand-alone app that gives personal AI agents their own email addresses, phone numbers, digital wallets, and computers. The app lets agents communicate, handle tasks across services, and make payments within limits set by the user.
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Kate Park is a reporter at TechCrunch, with a focus on technology, startups and venture capital in Asia. She previously was a financial journalist at Mergermarket covering M&A, private equity and venture capital.
— Originally published at techcrunch.com
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