Manus Raises More Than $500 Million After Unwinding Meta Deal
Juro Osawa reports that Butterfly Effect, Manus’s parent, said on WeChat that it raised more than $500M, led by new investors Boyu Capital and IDG Capital with existing investors Tencent, HSG and ZhenFund participating. The round follows the unwinding of Meta’s $2B acquisition announced in December: Manus was founded in China and later moved to Singapore, China’s government ordered the deal undone in April, and Tencent, HSG and ZhenFund bought the shares back from Meta. The Information reported in June that Manus’s annualized revenue run rate was $400M–$500M, up from $100M in December. Manus faces new competition from Meta’s Muse personal-agent app, launched a month ago, and OpenAI’s Dots, and it has upgraded its main app and launched a standalone app, Cue. No valuation is given.
Why it matters
It is a rare case of a big-tech acquisition being reversed by Chinese regulators and the startup refinancing independently, which matters for how Dealroom records ownership and exit status. Dealroom should make sure Manus/Butterfly Effect shows the Meta acquisition as unwound, the Tencent, HSG and ZhenFund buyback, and the new round with Boyu and IDG.
