Manus raises over 500 million dollars after nixed Meta acquisition

Artificial intelligence startup Manus has secured more than 500 million dollars in a new financing round, Decrypt and Reuters reported on October 8. The parent company of Manus, Butterfly Effect, announced the funding in a post on WeChat. The transaction marks the first fresh capital raised by the startup since Chinese regulatory authorities blocked its previous acquisition by Meta Platforms. [1][5][8]

The investment round was led by Boyu Capital and IDG Capital, according to Decrypt. Existing investors also participated, including Tencent, ZhenFund, and HSG, the firm formerly known as Sequoia China. TechCrunch noted that this represents the company's first funding round since its split from Meta. [1][8]

Manus is an autonomous artificial intelligence agent developed by Butterfly Effect, a startup founded in China and based in Singapore. Meta Platforms previously purchased the startup for approximately 2 billion dollars before Chinese authorities forced Meta to relinquish the company. [1][10]

Butterfly Effect did not disclose a precise valuation for the new funding round, though Decrypt reported that Bloomberg previously indicated the company was targeting 500 million dollars. The company stated that it plans to use the new capital to continue hiring staff within China and internationally. [1]