On December 30, just before the end of the year, the tech world was shaken by the news that Mark Zuckerberg's Meta was acquiring the startup Manus. This event is already being called the third largest acquisition in the corporation's history, surpassed in scale only by the purchases of WhatsApp and Scale AI.
The deal is notable not only for its size, but also for the lightning speed with which it was concluded, as well as the strategic shift it marks for Meta.
Phenomenal growth and the "check" of the deal
Manus is not just another AI startup. It is a company that has set a historic record for growth speed. Just eight months after its launch, Manus reached $100 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR). For comparison, just 12 days before the deal was announced, the company publicly reported this achievement, which probably triggered Meta to act quickly.
The financial details of the deal are impressive:
- Valuation: Analysts estimate the acquisition value to be in the range of $1.55 billion to $2 billion.
- Speed: Negotiations and closing the deal took only about 10-12 days. The Manus team was initially hesitant, as it was in the process of raising $2 billion in investment, but Zuckerberg's arguments (and resources) proved more convincing.
- Investors: The deal was a huge success for early investors. For example, Benchmark quadrupled its investment in just a few months, and China's ZhenFund, which had supported the team for 10 years, made one of the most successful bets in its history.
Full Stack Strategy
The acquisition of Manus allows Meta to close the cycle of AI technology ownership by building a powerful vertical:
- Data: Scale AI (data for training).
- Models: Llama (proprietary large language models).
- Applications: Manus (end product for the user).
Unlike Google or Microsoft, which often rely on internal development, Meta aggressively buys ready-made solutions to bring them to market faster. An interesting detail: Manus CEO Xiao Hong will report to Meta 's COO rather than CTO. This suggests that Zuckerberg views AI agents not simply as a technology, but as a tool for improving business operational efficiency.
Who is behind Manus?
The history of Manus is a story of perseverance. Founder Xiao Hong and his key partners are graduates of Huazhong University of Science and Technology (China). They did not have degrees from prestigious Western universities or experience working at American big tech companies.
- The team started out in a regular apartment, progressing from creating small plugins to developing an agent capable of writing code and conducting complex research on its own.
- Moving the headquarters to Singapore was a strategic move that made it easier to attract international investment and subsequent sales.
- By the time of the deal, Manus had processed more than 147 trillion tokens and created more than 80 million virtual computer units.
Mark Zuckerberg himself admitted to the founder that he has been an active user of Manus for a long time.
What's next?
Despite the acquisition, Manus will retain a certain degree of autonomy. The team will remain in Singapore, and the product will continue to exist as an independent service for current users.
However, the main goal is deep integration. Manus technologies will be implemented into the Meta ecosystem (WhatsApp, Instagram), transforming these platforms from entertainment into powerful productivity tools. This is a "defensive" move by Meta against OpenAI and Google, designed to cement its leadership in the field of AI agents.
In 8 months, annual recurring revenue reached $100 million.
