IT之家 · 智能时代 · 10/8/2026, 12:50:26
Manus Parent Butterfly Effect Raises $500M+ from Tencent and Sequoia Post-Meta Split
Butterfly Effect, the parent company of AI agent Manus, has closed a new funding round exceeding $500 million led by Boyu Investment and IDG Capital, with continued backing from existing investors including Tencent and Sequoia China. This follows regulatory scrutiny over its 'offshore washing' strategy and its subsequent split from Meta, marking the company's return to independent operation under its founding team.
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This round of funding was led by Boyu Capital and IDG Capital, with existing shareholders Tencent, Sequoia China, and ZhenFund continuing to participate.
In March 2025, Butterfly Effect launched Manus, which instantly went viral in the market. However, in June of that year, Manus relocated its corporate headquarters to Singapore, significantly cut its domestic team, and completely ceased services and operations within China. As an AI company that grew relying on Chinese engineers and infrastructure, Manus sparked controversy by abruptly "cutting ties" with its Chinese roots after securing US investment.
According to IT Home's report in April this year, the Office of the Working Mechanism for Security Review of Foreign Investment (National Development and Reform Commission) issued a decision prohibiting foreign acquisition of the Manus project in accordance with laws and regulations [link: https://www.ithome.com/0/943/996.htm], requiring the parties involved to cancel the acquisition transaction. CCTV News interpreted this as banning non-compliant practices of companies "washing out" via overseas expansion [link: https://www.ithome.com/0/944/519.htm].
Bloomberg reported in July that prior to launching the new funding round, the Manus founding team, along with existing investors Tencent, HSG, and ZhenFund, repurchased all shares from Meta at a valuation of $2 billion (approximately RMB 13.425 billion at current exchange rates). Tencent took over the equity previously held by Benchmark, becoming Manus's largest external institutional investor; Benchmark exited after realizing several-fold returns. Previously, the founders had attempted to introduce new investors during the buyback process but were blocked by regulators. The regulatory opinion stated that the buyback must strictly restore the equity structure to its state prior to the acquisition.
On August 11, Manus released a statement on its official website, announcing its separation from Meta and resumption of independent corporate operations, continuing to serve millions of users worldwide. During this process, some user accounts will be affected.
In September this year, Manus resumed independent operations after completing the split from Meta. The company stated that the founding team would continue to lead the enterprise, developing generative AI agent products for global users.