Sources: drone delivery startup Zipline is in talks to raise around $1B at a roughly $20B valuation, up from a $7.6B valuation in January (Bloomberg)
Zipline is in talks to raise around $1 billion in a funding round that would value the drone delivery and logistics startup at roughly $20 billion, nearly tripling its previous valuation.
Chinese AI startup Manus is targeting a $4 billion valuation in its first funding round since separating from Meta Platforms, according to Bloomberg. The $500 million round, still in early stages, could double Manus' valuation and make it the most valuable AI-agent startup in China, according to sources. Existing backers include Tencent Holdings, HSG and ZhenFund.
The deal's approval was delayed by Beijing, who blocked Meta's acquisition of the startup after it reached $100 million in annualized revenue due to concerns over technology moving to a geopolitical rival. Manus and Meta ceased data sharing after the split in May, with the company resuming independent operations under its founding team, according to Bloomberg.
A $4 billion valuation would bolster Manus' standing among China's AI-agent developers and potentially pave the way for a Hong Kong listing. Rival Evoken, developer of AI design agent Lovart, is also raising capital at a reported $3 billion valuation. Manus still faces competition from broader foundation-model providers such as Moonshot's Kimi and Anthropic's Claude, which are increasingly capable of handling general desktop tasks.
Written by urgent.news from Investing.com's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
This story
This is one outlet's version. Read the fullest account.
