TECHNOLOGY · AI · CYBERSECURITY · THE SYSTEMS SHAPING BUSINESS
AI agent developer Manus has raised more than $500 million, its first funding round since Chinese authorities forced it to unwind a planned sale to Meta, TechCrunch reported Thursday. Boyu Capital and IDG Capital led the round, which brings a group of mainland Chinese investors into a company that had been on track to become part of a U.S. tech giant.
What Happened
Tencent, HSG, the firm formerly known as Sequoia China, and ZhenFund also took part, along with other investors. The announcement came through a WeChat post from Butterfly Effect, the company behind Manus.
Manus did not disclose its valuation and did not answer TechCrunch's questions about it. TechCrunch reported in September that the company was in talks with investors at a valuation of about $4 billion.
RelatedThe company said it would continue hiring at home and abroad. TechCrunch also cited a report that the company is considering an initial public offering in Hong Kong.
Why It Matters
The round closes a turbulent year. Meta announced in December 2025 that it would buy Manus for about $2 billion. In April, Chinese authorities ordered the deal unwound, citing concern that the country was losing AI talent to Western companies. Manus resumed operating as an independent company in August and, as part of the split, was required to delete some user data.
The Meta case became a test of how far Beijing will go to keep Chinese-founded AI startups from selling to U.S. companies, even when those startups have moved staff overseas. Manus had moved staff to Singapore in mid-2025, months before the Meta agreement, yet Chinese authorities were still able to block the sale.
The investor list points the other way from the Meta deal. Boyu, IDG, Tencent, HSG and ZhenFund are all established names in China's technology funding scene, so the new capital ties Manus more closely to domestic backers at the moment it is trying to grow internationally.
The Business
Manus drew wide attention in 2025 after a demo of its general-purpose AI agent, which can carry out multistep tasks on a user's behalf. By the time of the Meta agreement, its annual recurring revenue had topped $100 million, according to TechCrunch.
Since regaining independence, the company has released Manus 2.0, which it describes as a new architecture with new products and capabilities. It has also launched Cue, a standalone app that gives personal AI agents their own email addresses, phone numbers, digital wallets and computers.
The agent market Manus competes in has grown more crowded since its debut, with large model developers in the United States and China shipping their own agents that browse, code and complete transactions.
What to Watch
A Hong Kong listing would be the clearest signal of where Manus now sees its home market, and the timing of any filing will be closely watched. So will the valuation: a figure near the reported $4 billion would put Manus well above what Meta agreed to pay less than a year ago.
The other open question is how Manus balances Chinese ownership with customers abroad, including in the United States, after a split that required it to delete user data and left its corporate status shaped by Beijing's decision.
