Butterfly Effect says it raised more than $500 million for Manus

Butterfly Effect, the parent company of the AI agent product Manus, said on Thursday that it had completed a funding round of more than $500 million, Reuters reported. The wire says the round was co-led by Boyu Capital and IDG Capital, with existing investors Tencent, Sequoia China and ZhenFund also taking part.

CNBC and Agence France-Presse report the same size and the same two lead investors, and both say the company described the round. They do not use Reuters’ name for one follower. CNBC says the existing shareholders that followed on were Tencent, HSG and ZhenFund. AFP, in the story carried by RTL Today, says Tencent, HSG Capital and ZhenFund. DoNews also says the company announced the round, and it names Tencent, Sequoia China and ZhenFund, matching the Reuters list. The outlets differ only on that label: Reuters and DoNews say Sequoia China, while CNBC and AFP say HSG.

What Manus itself has posted

The Manus blog does not have a post about this financing. Its 1 September 2026 note, “Manus Resumes Independent Operations,” says: “Manus has formally resumed independent operations.” The founding team, that note says, will keep leading the company. AFP dates that resumption to September. Reuters describes Thursday’s round as coming as the firm resumed independent operations after unwinding an acquisition by Meta of more than $2 billion. Reuters also says that in April, Beijing ordered Meta to unwind the deal amid scrutiny of US investment in Chinese startups working on advanced AI. That political background is Reuters’ account.

Valuation, and a China product

CNBC says Butterfly Effect did not disclose a valuation after the round. TechNode, citing the Chinese outlet Yicai, says the announcement gave neither a valuation nor a use for the money. CNBC adds that Bloomberg reported last month that Manus was set to double its valuation to $4 billion in this financing. DoNews, citing unnamed people familiar with the company, puts the target at about $4 billion. Those are second-hand figures. They are not a number the company posted.

AFP reports that Manus has said it is forming teams to “develop products for the domestic market.” DoNews says a 28 September company article described a team building a product for China with domestic model makers. The English Manus 2.0 post does not mention that work. This site’s 1 October report covers that product release, including Cascade and the Cue app, and not this round.

What the company has said

The amount, “more than $500 million,” and the lead investors, Boyu Capital and IDG Capital, are the company’s statement as Reuters, CNBC and AFP report it. The company has not published a valuation.