Manus Raises $500 Million After China Blocked Meta's $2 Billion Takeover
Updated
Updated · CNBC · Oct 8
Manus Raises $500 Million After China Blocked Meta's $2 Billion Takeover
1 articles · Updated · CNBC · Oct 8
Summary
More than $500 million will fund Manus’s first financing since Chinese regulators forced Meta to abandon its acquisition of the AI-agent startup.
Boyu Capital and IDG Capital led the round, with Tencent, HSG and ZhenFund adding follow-on money, signaling investor support for Manus as a standalone company.
Bloomberg reported last month that the financing could double Manus’s valuation to $4 billion, though parent Butterfly Effect did not disclose a post-money figure.
The raise follows Manus’s return to independent operations and the rollout of Manus 2.0 and Cue, even as Meta moved ahead with its own Muse personal AI agent.
Manus, which shifted staff to Singapore after launching in China in 2025, has become a test case for AI startups navigating pressure from both Beijing and Washington.