Manus eyes US$4 billion value in first round since Meta breakup - The Business Times

CHINESE-FOUNDED AI startup Manus is set to double its valuation to US$4 billion in its first fundraising since Beijing ordered it to split from Meta Platforms, charting a path to a fresh start after getting caught up in a geopolitical tussle.

The planned US$500 million financing round is set to close soon and would make the agentic AI pioneer China’s most valuable startup in its field, according to people familiar with the matter.

Talks are ongoing and the deal’s terms may still change, the people said, asking not to be named discussing private information.

While the identities of the new investors remain unclear, Manus’ existing backers include Tencent Holdings, HSG and ZhenFund. Representatives for Manus, Tencent, HSG and ZhenFund didn’t respond to requests for comment.

The deal, which remains at an early stage, shows investors are still willing to bet on AI agents, even as underlying foundation models rapidly improve and competitive pressures keep prices low.

It also signals growing confidence that Manus is shaking off the aftermath of its short-lived US$2 billion buyout by Meta — a deal Beijing forced to be unwound in an unprecedented move.

Earlier this month, Manus said it had resumed independent operations after its split from Meta, adding that its founding team will continue to lead the company and develop generative AI agents for users globally. In August, the company notified some users that their data would be deleted to comply with regulatory requirements.

Manus is both a blueprint for global success and a cautionary tale about the difficulties for China-founded firms navigating a strict regulatory tightrope.

The startup was founded early last year in China but relocated staff to Singapore after winning backing from Silicon Valley venture firm Benchmark.

In December, US-based Meta announced its acquisition after the startup topped US$100 million in annualised revenue. After Beijing blocked the deal citing concerns that China risked losing valuable technology to a geopolitical rival, Manus and Meta completed their operational split in May and halted all data-sharing.

Before the latest financing, Manus’ founders and existing backers Tencent, HSG, and ZhenFund bought back shares from Meta at the same US$2 billion valuation, Bloomberg News reported in July.

Tencent became Manus’ biggest external investor after acquiring the stake originally owned by Benchmark, which exited with a multi-fold return. An earlier attempt to attract new investors in the buyback was blocked by regulators, who viewed the deal as a strict unwind to its original state.

With a US$4 billion valuation, Manus would solidify its position as the country’s most valuable AI agent maker, which could see it join AI model labs like Moonshot in pursuing a public listing in Hong Kong. Rival Evoken, the Chinese startup behind AI design agent Lovart, is raising funds at a US$3 billion valuation.

Still, these agent makers face an uphill battle against broader foundation models like Moonshot’s Kimi and Anthropic PBC’s Claude. Those offerings are increasingly able to handle general desktop tasks as effectively as Manus, which doesn’t train its own base models from scratch. BLOOMBERG

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