News · 2026-10-09
Manus parent Butterfly Effect raises over $500 million in first round since the Meta deal collapsed
Butterfly Effect, the Chinese company behind the Manus agent, said on Thursday 8 October 2026 that it has raised more than $500 million, its first round since Meta was forced to call off a $2 billion acquisition. Boyu Capital and IDG Capital led, with existing shareholders Tencent, HSG (formerly Sequoia China) and ZhenFund participating; Manus disclosed no valuation, after September reports of talks at around $4 billion. Manus sells a general agent plus vibe-coding tools that build apps, websites, designs, presentations and video, in the market segment that includes Cursor, Lovable and Replit.
What it means for buyers
General agent builders keep attracting nine-figure rounds, and an independent, well-funded Chinese entrant stays in the market our ai-agent-builders comparison tracks, competing with invite-gated consumer agents such as Instinct and Meta's Muse on both capability and price. For buyers the immediate point is continuity: the company that looked acquisition-bound in September is funding for independent operation, so evaluating Manus as a platform no longer reads as a bet on a pending Meta integration.
Where to check it
Sources
- TechCrunch: China's Manus raises over $500M in first funding round since split with Meta — round confirmation: leads, participants, collapsed Meta deal context, checked 2026-10-09
- Butterfly Effect announcement via WeChat — company's own funding announcement, as linked by TechCrunch