Manus, the AI-agent startup built by Singapore-based Butterfly Effect, is targeting a $500 million funding round at a post-money valuation of $4 billion. If completed at that level, the financing would make Manus China’s most valuable AI-agent startup and represent an eightfold increase from its roughly $500 million valuation in a Benchmark-led Series B in April 2025. The round would be Manus’ first since it separated operationally from Meta after Beijing blocked Meta’s agreement to acquire the company for more than $2 billion in December 2025. The split was completed around May to June 2026. Manus CEO Xiao Hong and co-founders Ji Yichao and Zhang Tao are leading the company’s independent expansion. The startup develops agentic AI software that automates complex, multistep workflows involving browsers, forms, data extraction and synthesis, competing with Chinese companies including ByteDance and Baidu. A Hong Kong listing is reportedly under consideration longer term, while the company’s Singapore base provides a separate operating jurisdiction alongside its ties to Chinese engineering talent.