Butterfly Effect, the parent of AI-agent developer Manus, said on 8 October it had raised more than $500 million in its first funding round since Meta abandoned an acquisition valued at approximately $2 billion, CNBC reported.
Key points
- Boyu Capital and IDG Capital led the round; existing investors Tencent, HSG and ZhenFund also participated.
- A September report had projected that the financing would double Manus’s valuation to $4 billion.
- China’s National Development and Reform Commission blocked Meta’s acquisition of Manus.
- Manus has resumed independent operations and introduced an updated agent and a separate personal-agent app.
Boyu Capital and IDG Capital lead the round
Private equity firm Boyu Capital and venture investor IDG Capital led the financing. Tencent, HSG and ZhenFund, all existing shareholders, made follow-on investments. Their participation puts backers already exposed to Butterfly Effect alongside the two lead investors as the company pursues its next stage outside Meta.
Butterfly Effect’s announcement gave neither a post-funding valuation nor an intended use for the proceeds, TechNode reported. The amount raised is therefore the firm figure for the completed round, rather than a confirmed price for the company.
A September report had projected that the financing would double Manus’s valuation to $4 billion, CNBC reported.
Dan Wang, China director at Eurasia Group, said the financing indicated that investors were prepared to back Manus as an independent business after the Meta transaction fell apart. He also pointed to renewed confidence in the commercial potential of AI agents, according to CNBC.
Meta’s Manus acquisition is unwound
Meta announced its acquisition of Manus in December 2025. The transaction was valued at approximately $2 billion. Chinese regulators later blocked it, after Meta had begun bringing Manus’s team and technology into its own operations.
China’s National Development and Reform Commission said it had decided to “prohibit foreign investment in the Manus project”. Butterfly Effect’s new round follows that decision and the end of an acquisition that would have placed the agent developer inside Meta.
Manus began operating in China in early 2025. The company subsequently moved its staff to Singapore after securing backing from US venture firm Benchmark. Its route from venture-backed developer to announced Meta acquisition, and then back to an independent company, frames the new investors’ commitment.
In October, Manus said it had resumed independent operations. The company said its founding team would continue developing generative AI agents for users worldwide. The financing places fresh capital behind that plan, with Butterfly Effect rather than Meta responsible for the company’s development.
Manus 2.0 and Cue follow the split
Since separating from Meta, Manus has unveiled Manus 2.0, built on its in-house execution system, Cascade. It has also launched Cue as a standalone personal-agent app. Those products are the company’s named releases as it returns to operating independently.
Meta, meanwhile, launched its own personal AI agent, Muse, in early September. CNBC described Muse as modelled on the open-source agent OpenClaw. Meta’s continued work on a personal agent leaves both companies developing products in the category after their proposed transaction ended.
Each agent in Cue has its own email address, phone number and mobile wallet.
