Manus Secures Over $500M at Reported $4B Valuation to Expand AI Agent Platform
AI agent startup Manus has raised more than $500 million in a round led by Boyu Capital, valuing the firm at a reported $4 billion following the release of its upgraded Manus 2.0 system.
Artificial intelligence agent developer Manus has secured more than $500 million in a new financing round, valuing the startup at an estimated $4 billion according to earlier reporting from Bloomberg. The investment was led by private equity firm Boyu Capital, with participation from Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings Ltd. and several other backers.
The newly secured capital and valuation represent a significant leap from late last year, when Meta Platforms Inc. reportedly offered around $2 billion to acquire the business. That proposed acquisition was ultimately abandoned in April after Chinese regulators blocked the transaction, prompting Manus to resume operations as an independent entity.
The path from browser tool to multi-billion-dollar agent
Manus was established in 2022 under the name Butterfly Effect Co. Ltd. Its earliest offering was a browser extension that allowed users to interface with several different AI models via a single dashboard. In 2024, the startup raised $10 million and pivoted its engineering focus toward autonomous agents, which led to the creation of the Manus platform.
The agent was released through an invite-only preview last March. Demonstrations showing the software executing complex, multi-step workflows directly on users' computers gained widespread attention online, subsequently drawing backing from venture firm Benchmark. In April 2025, Benchmark led a $75 million funding round for Manus, coinciding with the company moving its headquarters to Singapore.
Following the collapse of the Meta acquisition earlier this year, the company committed to expanding its software independently, culminating in the launch of its first major revision, Manus 2.0, just days before the latest funding announcement.
Technical updates in Manus 2.0
The Manus 2.0 update introduces architectural and functional changes designed to enhance efficiency and autonomy. Central to the release is a new harness comprising software modules that adjust how underlying large language models behave. According to the company, this setup cuts token consumption by 23.2% across certain tasks while accelerating processing speeds by more than 28%.
Beyond efficiency improvements, Manus 2.0 includes generation tools for creating video clips and video games, backed by a feature called Cloud Computer. This managed hosting environment executes backend code for AI-created games and can run long-duration tasks or host websites independently, even if the user's personal computer is shut down.
The update also integrates Cue, a capability that assigns operational resources to agents, including digital wallets and email accounts. Cue enables users to set up dedicated message boards where multiple agents can interact and coordinate on multifaceted operations.
What it means for developers
The rapid rise of Manus reflects how demand is shifting from passive chat interfaces to agents capable of executing autonomous tasks across external environments. Manus 2.0 demonstrates that reducing runtime costs—in this case, trimming token usage by nearly a quarter through custom harnesses—is becoming a primary engineering objective for teams deploying autonomous systems.
Furthermore, features like Cloud Computer and Cue highlight the growing need for infrastructure that supports persistent execution and multi-agent coordination. Developers building complex systems increasingly require environments where agents can retain dedicated identities, manage resources, and communicate asynchronously.
As the ecosystem evolves, experimentation remains essential. Developers evaluating how different models handle logic, coding, and multi-step reasoning can try top AI models cheaply through one API at https://apixoai.online without maintaining separate accounts across multiple providers.
Competition in the autonomous agent space continues to accelerate. Just prior to Manus' announcement, consumer agent developer Nous Research Inc. raised $90 million. Meanwhile, after its attempt to acquire Manus was halted, Meta pursued internal development, launching an agent app named Muse that recently surpassed ChatGPT on the U.S. App Store chart.
Source: AI agent developer Manus raises $500M+ at reported $4B valuation — SiliconANGLE AI. Written by the Apixo team from that report.
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