Butterfly Effect, the parent company of Chinese AI lab Manus, has secured more than $500 million in new funding, its first round since Meta was forced to abandon its $2 billion acquisition of the startup. The company announced the round on Thursday in a WeChat post, saying it was led by Boyu Capital and IDG Capital, with participation from existing shareholders including Tencent, HSG, formerly Sequoia China, and ZhenFund. Manus did not disclose its valuation, though it was reported last month to be in talks to raise $500 million at a $4 billion valuation.
Manus, which went viral last year after demonstrating its AI agent, moved its staff to Singapore in mid-2025 and agreed to the Meta deal that December, when it was reportedly generating over $100 million in annual recurring revenue. Chinese authorities ordered the deal unwound in April as concerns grew over losing AI talent to the West, and Manus resumed independent operations in August.
The company offers a chatbot and vibe-coding tools for building apps, websites, designs, presentations and video. It recently introduced Manus 2.0, built on a new architecture, alongside Cue, a stand-alone app that gives personal AI agents their own email addresses, phone numbers, digital wallets and computers. Manus said it will continue hiring at home and abroad and is reportedly considering a Hong Kong listing.
