13.6 billion, Tencent-led consortium reportedly redeems Manus

ZheDongXi, July 10 — The Financial Times of London, citing two people familiar with the matter, reports that Manus's previous investors, including Tencent, ZhenFund, and Sequoia China (formerly Sequoia Capital China), are in discussions to complete a share buyback of Manus's parent company, Butterfly Effect, at the $2 billion valuation (approximately 13.6 billion RMB) set during Meta's acquisition. Tencent is expected to acquire the largest stake, yet will remain a minority shareholder.

Following the news breaking today, as of around 4 p.m. Beijing Time, Tencent's Hong Kong-listed stock price dropped 2.21%.

▲ Tencent's Hong Kong Stock Price (Source: Baidu Stock Connect)

Back on June 18 this year, foreign media outlet The Information first reported that Manus's early Chinese backers were planning to repurchase the company, mentioning only Tencent, ZhenFund, and Sequoia China at the time, without disclosing that Tencent would acquire the largest stake. 13.5 Billion RMB! Major Turnaround in the Manus Acquisition Deal, Tencent Is Reportedly Stepping In.

According to insiders, discussions over this buyback are still ongoing, and new investors may join the process, but U.S. venture capital firm Benchmark will not participate, consistent with the information revealed by The Information on June 18. This top-tier U.S. VC institution led Manus parent company Butterfly Effect's $75 million Series B funding round (approximately 509 million RMB) in March 2025.

The Financial Times of London cited insiders stating that Manus will continue to operate independently from its Singapore base and will not be integrated into Tencent's related businesses. Meanwhile, Manus still retains the opportunity to pursue an independent public listing in the future, though per insiders, any plan for a Hong Kong IPO is premised on Manus completing a corporate restructuring.

Manus founder Xiao Hong has long-standing ties with Tencent. Foreign media reports note that when Tencent was testing Agent products designed to embed into the WeChat ecosystem, Xiao Hong was among the first external users invited to participate in the testing. Prior to founding Butterfly Effect, the product launched by Xiao Hong's previous startup was also WeChat-related, including the official account management tool "Yiban Assistant", which secured investments from Tencent and other institutions.

In March 2025, Manus burst onto the scene billing itself as "the world's first general-purpose AI agent". The agents it developed could autonomously browse websites via cloud virtual machines to perform complex tasks such as booking tickets, analyzing stocks, and conducting in-depth research, capturing widespread public attention at launch with its invitation codes becoming highly sought-after commodities.

▲ Demo of Manus Agent Autonomously Operating a Computer (Source: Manus)

Xiao Hong, Manus founder and CEO, was born in 1993 and graduated from Huazhong University of Science and Technology. The other two co-founders are chief scientist Ji Yichao and product partner Zhang Tao. Ji Yichao, born in 1992, is a graduate of Beijing Information Science and Technology University; Zhang Tao previously led product work at companies including ByteDance and Meituan's Light Speed division.

An insider disclosed to The Financial Times that Manus's performance has maintained rapid growth ever since its acquisition by Meta. Manus's annualized revenue run rate has now climbed to the $400 million to $500 million range (approximately 2.7 billion to 3.4 billion RMB), compared to just $100 million (about 680 million RMB) at the time Meta acquired the company.

However, another insider notes that uncertainty remains over whether Manus can sustain this growth momentum outside the Meta ecosystem.

Sources: The Financial Times of London, The Information

This article originates from the WeChat Official Account "ZheDongXi", authored by Bi Weihao, and is republished by 36Kr with official authorization.