AI Startup Manus Raises More Than $500 Million After Meta Exit

Butterfly Effect, the parent company of AI startup Manus, has completed a funding round worth more than $500 million as the company returns to independent operations following the unwinding of Meta’s proposed acquisition. The round was co-led by Boyu Capital and IDG Capital, with existing investors including Tencent, Sequoia China and ZhenFund also participating. The new funding represents a major financial boost for Manus as it attempts to establish itself as an independent player in the increasingly competitive AI-agent industry.

Manus develops general-purpose AI agents designed to carry out tasks such as research, analysis and automation with limited human intervention. The company gained international attention after demonstrating an agent capable of completing complex multi-step assignments, and its annualised revenue run rate reportedly rose to around $500 million, compared with roughly $100 million when Meta agreed to acquire the company. The rapid growth has helped Manus attract investors even after its planned relationship with Meta came to an end.

The funding follows a complicated reversal of Meta’s planned acquisition of Manus. Meta had agreed to acquire the company for more than $2 billion, but Chinese authorities later ordered the transaction to be unwound amid increased scrutiny of foreign investment in Chinese companies developing advanced AI technologies. Manus subsequently resumed independent operations, with the company saying in August that some user data would be deleted as part of its separation from Meta and regulatory requirements.

The latest investment also comes as Manus faces growing competition from major technology companies developing their own autonomous AI agents. Meta has launched Muse, while OpenAI has introduced Dots, creating a rapidly developing market for AI systems capable of interacting with computers, websites and digital services. Manus has responded by upgrading its main application and launching Cue, a separate product designed to give users access to multiple personal AI agents.

Manus had previously been reported to be seeking about $500 million at a valuation of roughly $4 billion and considering a corporate restructuring that could eventually support a Hong Kong listing. The completed round now gives the company substantial fresh capital to invest in its products, infrastructure and international expansion. With autonomous AI agents becoming one of the industry’s most closely watched areas, Manus will now have to demonstrate that it can continue growing independently while competing against companies with significantly larger financial and computing resources.