Manus, the AI agent startup whose acquisition by Meta was vetoed by the Chinese government, has raised more than $500 million in its first funding round since unwinding the deal.
The round was led by Boyu Capital and IDG Capital, with existing backers Tencent, HSG Capital and ZhenFund also participating, according to a statement from Butterfly Effect, Manus's parent company.
No valuation was disclosed, though media reports suggest the fundraising values the business at around $4 billion.
That's double the $2 billion price Meta agreed to pay when it announced the acquisition in December.
Meta's bid attempt for Manus, one of the largest in the Facebook owner's history, was blocked by China's economic planning body in April in a move analysts read as Beijing reasserting control over homegrown technology companies.
Two of Manus's co-founders were also reportedly restricted from travelling abroad at the time, though both appeared at a product launch event in Singapore last month, suggesting some of those pressures have eased.
Manus, which is Chinese-developed but headquartered in Singapore, builds AI agent tools capable of carrying out real-world tasks for users.
In Silicon Valley, this is a category attracting intense investment and competition across the global tech industry.
The company resumed independent operations in September following the completion of the Meta unwind.
And it simultaneously launched a major update to its core product alongside a new standalone app called Cue.
Cue allows users to create personalised AI agents for everyday tasks such as booking restaurants and making phone calls, putting it in direct competition with Meta's own recently launched agent tool, Muse.
