Manus raised $500 million in its first funding round since China blocked Meta's acquisition

Chinese AI lab Manus raised over $500 million in its first funding round since splitting with Meta, according to a WeChat post from the company's parent, Butterfly Effect. Tech investment firms Boyu Capital and IDG Capital led the round, with Tencent, HSG, ZhenFund and others joining in. Existing shareholders were also part of the funding.

Manus did not disclose its valuation, but was reportedly in talks for a $500 million round at a $4 billion valuation. The AI startup, which went viral after demoing its AI agent last year, relocated its staff to Singapore in mid-2025 following a $2 billion acquisition deal with Meta that December. The deal was called off by Chinese authorities in April amid concerns over losing AI talent to the West.

Manus resumed independent operations in August, required to delete some user data during the split. The company, known for AI products and agents similar to those from Cursor, Lovable, and Replit, offers chatbot and vibe-coding tools for app and website development, design, video generation, and more. It recently launched Manus 2.0, featuring new architecture and capabilities.

Manus also introduced Cue, a standalone app for personal AI agents with email addresses, phone numbers, digital wallets and computers to handle tasks and make payments within user-set limits.