Manus parent raises more than $500 million after Meta deal collapse

The new funding gives Butterfly Effect room to keep hiring as Manus resumes life without the planned Meta acquisition.

Chinese AI lab Manus’ parent, Butterfly Effect, says it has raised more than $500 million in its first funding round since Meta abandoned a planned $2 billion acquisition. Boyu Capital and IDG Capital led the round, with Tencent, HSG, ZhenFund and other existing backers also joining, and the company says it will keep hiring in China and overseas. Manus did not disclose a valuation, though it was recently reported to be seeking $500 million at a $4 billion valuation. The raise comes after Manus restarted independent operations in August, following Chinese regulators’ order to unwind the Meta deal and the company’s report that it had to delete some user data during the split. The startup, known for AI agent and vibe-coding tools, has also launched Manus 2.0 and a separate app called Cue for personal AI agents.