Manus Raises More Than $500 Million in First Funding Round Since Meta Deal Collapse

Manus parent Butterfly Effect has raised more than $500 million in its first funding round since Beijing blocked the startup's $2 billion Meta acquisition.

Manus, the AI agent startup that spent most of 2026 untangling itself from a collapsed acquisition by Meta, has raised more than $500 million in its first funding round since the breakup, according to reports from Reuters, CNBC and Nikkei Asia published on Wednesday.

The round was completed by Manus's parent company, Butterfly Effect, Chinese tech outlet TechNode reported, marking one of the largest single financings for a Chinese AI application company this year. The raise comes roughly three weeks after The Wall Street Journal reported that Manus was seeking $500 million at a $4 billion valuation as it resumed operations as an independent company.

The deal is the latest in a string of major AI financings covered in breaking AI news this year.

For a startup that was, until this spring, set to become one of Meta's most unusual acquisitions, the round represents a full-circle moment: the company is once again independent, well capitalized, and charting a path that could lead to a public listing in Hong Kong.

A Complicated Path Back to Independence

Manus went viral in early 2025 after a demo of its general-purpose AI agent, which can autonomously carry out multi-step tasks like researching topics, building websites and producing reports. The company relocated its staff to Singapore in mid-2025, and that December agreed to a $2 billion acquisition by Meta, according to TechCrunch. At the time of the deal, Manus was reportedly pulling in more than $100 million in annual recurring revenue.

The acquisition quickly ran into trouble in Beijing. In April 2026, Chinese regulators effectively vetoed the deal after a months-long probe, citing potential violations of export controls and foreign investment rules, TechCrunch reported. Officials in China had grown increasingly concerned about losing AI talent and research to Western companies.

By June 2026, Meta had reportedly moved to unwind the transaction following Beijing's demands. Manus's early investors helped the company buy back its shares at a valuation of about $2 billion as part of the separation, according to TechCrunch's reporting.

The separation came with practical complications for users as well. In August, Manus told customers they would need to export and back up their own data, because the company had to delete data generated after Meta's acquisition in order to comply with regulatory requirements in specific jurisdictions.

Who Is Backing the New Round

When the fundraise was first reported in September, The Wall Street Journal, cited by TechCrunch, listed potential investors including IDG Capital, Boyu Capital and battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), alongside existing backers Tencent, HSG and ZhenFund. The Journal also reported that Manus was considering a restructuring exercise to prepare for an initial public offering in Hong Kong.

Wednesday's reports confirm the round has closed at more than $500 million, though the companies involved have not published full details of the final valuation or the complete investor list. Manus did not immediately respond to a request for comment when the September reports were published, and the company has historically kept a low public profile on financing specifics.

What Manus Actually Builds

Manus positions itself in the increasingly crowded market for agentic AI — systems designed not just to answer questions but to execute tasks on a user's behalf. Its products include a chatbot and vibe-coding tools that let users build apps and websites, create designs and presentations, and generate video, a product set that TechCrunch notes resembles offerings from OpenAI, Lovable and Replit.

That positioning makes the company one of China's most internationally visible AI application startups, even as its corporate structure has shifted between Singapore and China throughout regulatory negotiations. The new funding gives Manus runway to compete with rivals that have considerably deeper pockets, including Meta itself, which has pressed ahead with its own agent products after the Manus deal fell apart.

A Signal for China's AI Ecosystem

The round is also notable for what it says about Beijing's posture toward its AI sector. Chinese regulators blocked Manus's sale to Meta in part to keep AI talent and intellectual property at home. Eight months later, domestic and international investors have stepped in with capital that keeps the company independent — and, according to the September reporting, potentially on a path toward a Hong Kong IPO rather than a Silicon Valley exit.

The funding also lands amid a broader wave of large financings across the AI industry, from US computing startups to Chinese model developers. For Manus, the challenge now is converting its early viral moment and fresh capital into durable revenue in a market where agent platforms are proliferating quickly and switching costs for users remain low.

What Comes Next

Neither Manus nor Butterfly Effect has announced specific plans for the capital. Based on the September reporting, the likely priorities include scaling the agent platform internationally, expanding enterprise offerings, and completing the corporate restructuring that would position the company for a Hong Kong listing.

For now, the message from Wednesday's reports is straightforward: one of 2026's most complicated AI acquisitions sagas has ended with the startup back on its own feet, and investors are willing to bet half a billion dollars that independence suits it.

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