Manus Raises Over $500 Million in First Funding Round Since Meta Split

Butterfly Effect, the parent company of Chinese AI lab Manus, has raised more than $500 million in its first funding round since the end of its proposed acquisition by Meta. The company announced the funding in a WeChat post on Thursday, according to TechCrunch.

Boyu Capital and IDG Capital led the round. Existing shareholders Tencent, HSG, formerly known as Sequoia China, and ZhenFund also participated, along with others. Butterfly Effect did not disclose its valuation. Last month, Manus was reported to be in talks to raise $500 million at a $4 billion valuation.

Meta’s proposed $2 billion acquisition of Manus was called off after Chinese authorities ordered the startup in April to unwind the deal. Manus resumed independent operations in August and said the split required it to delete some user data. The company had moved its staff to Singapore in mid-2025, before announcing the deal that December.

Manus said it would continue hiring in China and abroad. It makes AI agents and tools for building apps and websites, creating designs and presentations, and generating video. Its products include Manus 2.0 and Cue, a standalone app that gives personal AI agents email addresses, phone numbers, digital wallets, and computers. Cue lets agents communicate and handle tasks across services, with payments subject to user-set limits.

TechCrunch reported that Manus is also considering a Hong Kong public listing. Manus did not respond to its questions about the company’s valuation.