Driven Raises €1.5M to Reinvent Sales Compensation & Performance with AI

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This outdated approach leads to several key challenges: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.