Manus is testing how much its independence is worth.
AI agent startup Manus is in talks to raise about $500 million at a valuation of roughly $4 billion, marking its first major fundraising effort since separating from Meta, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Potential investors include IDG Capital, Boyu Capital and Chinese battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology, also known as CATL. Existing backers Tencent, HSG and ZhenFund are also considering joining the round, the Journal reported.
Bloomberg separately reported that the financing could close soon, although the terms remain subject to change. The proposed valuation would be about twice the roughly $2 billion valuation at which Manus’ founders and early investors bought back shares from Meta during the breakup.
From Meta deal to independent startup
Manus was founded by Chinese entrepreneurs and initially developed its AI agent with engineering teams in China before moving most of its China-based staff to Singapore in 2025.
Meta announced a more than $2 billion acquisition of Manus in December 2025 after the startup surpassed $100 million in annualized revenue. Chinese regulators later blocked the transaction, citing regulatory and national-security concerns, forcing the companies to unwind the deal.
Manus and Meta completed their operational separation in May, and Manus recently resumed independent operations. The company also told some users in August that certain data generated after the acquisition would need to be deleted to comply with regulatory requirements.
The bigger bet on AI agents
The new funding talks arrive as AI agents face a more difficult competitive environment. Manus does not train its own foundation models from scratch. Instead, it uses open-weight models and post-training techniques to improve its products, according to the Journal.
That puts the company in a race against general-purpose AI platforms that are increasingly capable of performing tasks once associated with specialized agents. Bloomberg noted that products such as Moonshot’s Kimi and Anthropic’s Claude are expanding into general desktop tasks while keeping pressure on pricing.
For Manus, the $4 billion target therefore represents more than a return to fundraising. It is a bet that a specialized agent company can build enough product value and customer demand to justify independence while larger AI companies continue expanding into the same territory.
Hong Kong IPO could be next
Manus is also exploring a corporate restructuring that could prepare it for a potential Hong Kong initial public offering, according to the Journal. The discussions are preliminary, so there is no confirmed listing timetable.
A public-market path could give Manus another source of capital if it succeeds, but it would also expose the company to greater scrutiny while it tries to establish itself after a highly unusual separation from Meta.
What it means for users
The funding could mean more investment in the agent’s capabilities, reliability and range of tasks for Manus users. More capital could also help the company compete as AI agents become increasingly common across coding, research, design and productivity software.
But the larger question is whether Manus can build a durable advantage while general-purpose AI platforms absorb more of the same capabilities. The Meta separation showed how quickly regulatory risk can reshape the company’s trajectory; the next test is whether renewed independence at a roughly $4 billion valuation can translate into a sustainable business.
Other news: OpenAI investors are discussing a possible new funding round that could value the ChatGPT maker at about $1.2 trillion, although formal fundraising has not begun and no amount has been confirmed.