Driven Raises €1.5M to Reinvent Sales Compensation & Performance with AI
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We are thrilled to announce a major milestone in our journey. Driven has successfully raised €1.5 million in a pre-seed funding round to scale our AI-powered platform for dynamic sales compensation. This is a huge step forward in our mission to transform how sales teams are motivated and rewarded.
This funding round was led by the venture capital firm Pitchdrive, with significant participation from NewSchool VC. We are also incredibly proud to have the backing of some of Belgium's most respected tech entrepreneurs, including Jeroen De Wit of Teamleader, the Henchman team (Gilles Mattelin, Jorn Vanysacker, and Wouter Van Respaille), and Matthias Geeroms from Lighthouse. Their belief in our vision reinforces our commitment to solving a long-standing industry problem.
The Problem with Traditional Sales Compensation
For decades, sales compensation has been a source of frustration for both managers and their teams. Variable pay is a standard component for about half of all salespeople, yet the methods for managing it are often stuck in the past. Most companies still rely on complex, error-prone spreadsheets that are difficult to maintain and update.
This outdated approach leads to several key challenges:
- Delayed Updates: Commission calculations often happen weeks or even months after a deal closes, creating a disconnect between effort and reward.
- Lack of Transparency: Sales reps are frequently left in the dark about their progress toward goals and what their potential earnings are. This uncertainty can be a powerful demotivator.
- Misaligned Incentives: Static plans struggle to adapt to changing market conditions or business priorities, leading to incentives that don't drive the right behaviors.
- Administrative Burden: Managers spend countless hours manually calculating payouts and resolving disputes, taking time away from coaching and strategy.
These issues don't just affect morale; they directly impact performance and revenue. When motivation wanes and incentives are unclear, sales performance suffers.
How Driven Changes the Game with AI
Driven was founded in early 2025 by Ludovic Diercxsens, Andres De Jonge, and Tom De Kooning to tackle these problems head-on. Our platform moves sales compensation out of static spreadsheets and into a dynamic, intelligent, and transparent system.
By connecting directly to your company's CRM, such as HubSpot or Salesforce, Driven provides a single source of truth for all sales performance and commission data.
Here’s how our solution empowers your entire sales organization:
Real-Time Performance Tracking
With Driven, the days of waiting for end-of-quarter reports are over. Sales representatives get a personal dashboard that shows their progress toward targets in real time. They can see exactly how each activity and closed deal impacts their earnings, providing immediate positive reinforcement and a clear understanding of what they need to do to succeed.
Automated and Smart Commission Plans
Our AI-native platform automates the entire commission process. Managers can set up fair and transparent compensation plans based on historical data, industry benchmarks, and live performance metrics. The AI assistant helps create smart incentive structures that align individual goals with broader company objectives, ensuring everyone is working toward the same outcome.
"Driven is the tool that motivates sales teams through smart incentives," says our CEO, Ludovic Diercxsens. "By making goals visible and dividing them fairly, everyone in the company knows exactly what they’re working toward. That clarity instantly lifts motivation."
Improved CRM Data Quality
A common pain point for sales leaders is poor data quality in the CRM. Inaccurate or incomplete data leads to flawed forecasting and misguided strategies. Driven solves this by directly linking commission payouts to the data logged in the CRM.
As CTO Andres De Jonge explains, "Better data automatically means better sales. When reps know that their pay depends on clean CRM inputs, they become much more disciplined." This creates a virtuous cycle where better data leads to better insights, which in turn drives better performance.
Our Journey and What's Next
Driven is the seventh startup to emerge from the Ghent-based venture builder StarApps, which has a track record of building successful companies like Bizzy and FixForm. We are proud to already be working with early adopters such as the cybersecurity firm Aikido.
With this new €1.5 million in funding, we are ready to accelerate our growth. Our primary focus will be on expanding our team, doubling down on product development, and onboarding more customers across Europe. We have an ambitious goal to reach €1 million in revenue by 2026, and this investment provides the fuel to get us there.
We are building a future where sales compensation is no longer a source of confusion and frustration, but a powerful driver of performance and motivation. We believe that by providing clarity, transparency, and intelligent automation, we can help companies unlock the full potential of their sales teams.
Thank you to our investors, early customers, and the entire Driven team for being part of this incredible journey. The best is yet to come.
Conclusion
Driven is setting a new standard for sales compensation by harnessing the power of AI. Their platform directly addresses some of the most persistent problems in the industry—delayed payouts, lack of transparency, and CRM data challenges—while empowering sales teams and managers to achieve more. As they expand across Europe and continue to innovate, Driven is well-positioned to become a leader in smart sales compensation and help businesses unlock greater motivation and growth within their sales organizations.
FAQ
Understanding SPIFFs, Bonuses, and Commissions
A SPIFF (Sales Performance Incentive Fund) is a short-term cash incentive tied to a specific, immediate action, usually selling a particular product, hitting a short-window target, or pushing a specific behavior the company wants right now.
SPIFFs are built for speed. They're announced, run for a defined stretch, usually days or weeks, and paid out fast, sometimes even same-day or same-week, specifically because the immediacy is what makes them effective. A SPIFF isn't meant to replace commission, it's meant to temporarily redirect a rep's attention toward something specific: clearing old inventory, pushing a new product launch, or closing out a slow month with extra motivation.
Non-Recoverable Draw vs. Recoverable Draw: What's the Difference?
A draw in sales compensation is a guaranteed advance payment made to a salesperson against their future commissions. This means it is an advance against future commission, paid out on a regular schedule, usually monthly, so reps have predictable income before their pipeline turns into closed deals and actual commission.
Companies use draws to protect new reps' income during ramp. A brand-new AE with a three-month sales cycle isn't going to close anything in week two, but they still need to pay rent. A draw bridges that gap.
For sales professionals, understanding draw type matters because it affects real take-home pay, not just cash flow timing. Two reps can be offered the exact same dollar amount as a "draw" and end up with completely different financial outcomes, depending on which type it actually is.
Sales Compensation Plans for SDRs vs AEs: What's the Difference?
Before comparing pay, it helps to be clear on what each role is actually on the hook for. They sit on the same team, but they're not doing the same job.
What Does an SDR Do?
SDRs own the top of the funnel. Their day is built around prospecting, outbound outreach, and lead qualification, all pointed at one outcome: booking meetings and creating a pipeline for AEs to work. SDRs generally aren't responsible for closing deals. Their job ends where the AE's job begins.
What Does an AE Do?
AEs own the deal once it's qualified. That means running discovery calls, delivering product demos, negotiating terms, and closing the deal. AEs carry direct revenue ownership, and in a lot of organizations, they also handle account management once the deal is signed. The pressure sits differently here: an AE's number is measured in dollars closed, not meetings booked.
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