Exposed: Manus AI Secures $75 Million in Funding, Valuation Soars to Nearly $500 Million
Explore Manus by Butterfly Effect, an AI tool valued at $500M, praised for its user experience and global expansion despite initial doubts.
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In early March, the AI company "Butterfly Effect" (the developer of Monica) released its AI agent tool "Manus," causing a massive stir in the market.
At the time, some hailed it as a "groundbreaking product" that would "keep Silicon Valley awake all night," while others dismissed it as a marketing stunt, claiming that Manus was still essentially a "Frankenstein" or "repackaged shell" of existing technologies.
Subsequently, Manus's closed beta invitation codes became "extremely hard to get," leaving many users unable to actually try the product. This fueled the latter narrative, with speculation that it was a carefully orchestrated "hunger marketing" campaign: first, tantalize the public with flashy demo videos, then tightly control the number of beta invites.
As time passed, public sentiment toward Manus shifted from eager anticipation to sarcasm and mockery. Some domestic investment firms, initially enthusiastic, gradually lost interest.
Recently, however, reports emerged that Manus just completed a new funding round overseas at a $500 million valuation, with American venture capital firm Benchmark—known for past investments in X, Uber, eBay, Instagram, and others—among the investors.
If true, what has happened in the past month or so?