ComfyUI, the node-based workflow tool for controlling AI-generated media, has secured a $30 million funding round at a $500 million valuation. Craft Ventures led the investment, with participation from Pace Capital, Chemistry, and TruArrow. The startup helps creators precisely control image, video, and audio outputs from diffusion models.

The company began as an open-source project in 2023, shortly after diffusion models like Midjourney and DALL-E launched but produced flawed outputs—often adding extra fingers to hands. Co-founder and CEO Yoland Yan describes typical prompt-based tools as reaching only "60% to 80%" of the desired result, likening the remaining refinement to "playing in a casino" where small changes can overwrite previously perfect elements.

With over 4 million users, ComfyUI has become essential for technical artists in visual effects, animation, advertising, and industrial design. The startup raised a $19 million Series A in late 2024 before this new round. While foundational models continue improving, Yan argues that in a world saturated with "AI slop," the human-in-the-loop approach his tool enables will win out.