Manus AI Raises $500M After Unwinding Meta Deal

The parent company of Manus, the AI agent startup that recently separated from Meta Platforms, said Thursday that it has raised more than $500 million in a new funding round. Butterfly Effect said in a social media post on WeChat that the funding round was led by new investors Boyu Capital and IDG Capital. Its existing investors Tencent, HSG and ZhenFund also participated in the round. The fundraising comes after the startup completed the unwinding of a $2 billion sale to Meta. Manus, which was founded in China but later relocated to Singapore, was ordered by the Chinese government in April to undo Meta’s acquisition of the startup, which was announced in December. To reverse the deal, the startup’s original investors, Tencent, HSG and Zhenfund, bought its shares back from Meta. In June, The Information reported that Manus’s annualized revenue run rate had risen to between $400 million and $500 million, up from $100 million in December. Manus faces growing competition from U.S. giants. Meta’s Muse personal AI agent app, launched a month ago, has become an instant hit, and OpenAI recently released its own personal agent called Dots. To expand its user base, Manus recently upgraded its main Manus app and also launched a new standalone app called Cue, which provides each user with multiple personal agents. #🇨🇳 ChinA.I. 🤖🧠🦾🤖 https://cue.im