Manus raises $500 million led by Boyu Capital

Manus began as Butterfly Effect Co. Ltd. in 2022, selling a browser extension that gave users access to multiple AI models through a single interface. It raised $10 million in 2024 and refocused on the product that became the Manus agent, which launched last March through an invite-only program. Viral videos of the agent carrying out multi-step tasks drew Benchmark, which invested $75 million in April 2025 and saw the company relocate its headquarters to Singapore.

A planned sale to Meta fell apart in April when Chinese regulators blocked it, and Manus said it would resume operating as a standalone company. It has used the time since to improve the product, releasing Manus 2.0 days before this round. Manus 2.0 includes a new harness, a tool for generating clips and video games, Cloud Computer for hosting backend code and other workloads, and Cue, which can equip agents with resources like an email account and a digital wallet.

Manus's round lands a day after Nous Research Inc., a startup with a competing consumer AI agent, raised $90 million, suggesting investors are still willing to back agent developers even as larger players build their own.