Manus, a Singapore-based startup built by Butterfly Effect, is targeting a $500 million funding round at a $4 billion post-money valuation, which would make it China’s most valuable AI-agent startup. The company had previously raised roughly $75 million in a Benchmark-led Series B in April 2025 at around a $500 million valuation, representing an eightfold increase in valuation in roughly a year. Meta had agreed to acquire Manus for over $2 billion in December 2025, but Beijing blocked the deal, forcing the two companies to fully separate around May to June 2026. Manus competes directly with other Chinese AI labs like ByteDance and Baidu in the agentic AI space, autonomous systems designed to execute complex multi-step tasks. A future Hong Kong listing would fit this trajectory, as the city has strengthened its attractiveness for Chinese tech companies facing growing obstacles to accessing the US market.
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