Manus parent Butterfly Effect raises over $500M led by Boyu Capital and IDG Capital
Butterfly Effect, the Singapore-based parent of AI agent maker Manus, disclosed the round in a Weixin post on October 8. Boyu Capital and IDG Capital led, and existing backers Tencent, HSG (formerly Sequoia China) and ZhenFund also put in money. No valuation was given. In September TechCrunch reported the company was in talks to raise $500M at about $4B, roughly double what Meta had agreed to pay. Meta announced the $2B purchase in December 2025, when Manus was reportedly above $100M in annual recurring revenue. Chinese authorities ordered the deal unwound in April, and Manus resumed independent operations in August after deleting some user data. It is also reported to be weighing a Hong Kong listing. For builders, the round shows a blocked exit does not have to strand a company: domestic capital stepped in at a higher implied price. It also shows that cross-border acquisitions of China-rooted AI teams now carry regulatory risk that founders and acquirers need to price in early.
