How BetterComp Used Founderpath’s Non-Dilutive Capital to Power Its $33M Series A

BetterComp makes market pricing software for compensation teams. BetterComp states on its blog, as checked in October 2026, that it used $1.75 million in non-dilutive funding from Founderpath before its $33 million Series A in July 2025; co-founder Alan Miegel later described the financing as a bridge to the next round in his August 2025 Practical Founders interview.

Key Takeaways

• BetterComp’s blog states, as of October 2026, that it used $1.75 million in non-dilutive funding from Founderpath before the Series A.
• BetterComp announced a $33 million Series A led by Ten Coves Capital on July 22, 2025 (company release; SiliconANGLE and Built In reported it the same day).
• Miegel told the Practical Founders podcast in August 2025 that the round also involved venture debt from Silicon Valley Bank and some secondary, with about $17 million of primary capital, and that founders, executives and employees still own about 65%.
• Before Founderpath and the Series A, BetterComp was funded by its founders and by convertible-note rounds from friends and angels, Miegel said in the same August 2025 interview.
• Miegel described revenue-based financing as a bridge to the next round in his August 2025 Practical Founders interview, without stating its rate or repayment term.

What BetterComp does and who founded it

BetterComp sells market pricing software: it helps compensation teams take in salary survey data, match jobs to it, model pay ranges and report on them, so they can set pay for every role against the market. SiliconANGLE’s July 2025 report lists survey data from Aon, Mercer, Willis Towers Watson, Korn Ferry, Culpepper and Compa among the sources its platform consolidates, and Built In SF lists its headquarters as Walnut Creek, California.

Miegel wrote on BetterComp’s blog that in late 2019 he brought in Sandra Leon and Derek Watson to create the company, and Pulse 2.0 names the same three founders. He told Practical Founders that he had been laid off from PayScale in 2019, that the team built the product during 2020, and that it started selling in January 2021 (watch at 24:55 and 31:13). Two months later, he recalled, PayScale bought PayFactors, merging BetterComp’s two biggest competitors.

How BetterComp funded itself before the Series A

In the August 2025 interview, Miegel said he did not want to take round after round of venture money and end up owning a small percentage of the company. Instead he put in some of his own money, then raised convertible notes: an early one at about 5% interest and a later one at 10%. The notes raised a few million dollars and later converted into equity (watch at 11:08). The first round came in $50,000 and $100,000 checks and the next in $250,000 checks, much of it from friends, he said (watch at 12:56).

Asked whether there was any debt alongside the notes, he named the Founderpath financing:

It’s kind of a bridge to your next round.

Alan Miegel, co-founder and CEO, BetterComp, on the Practical Founders podcast, August 2025 (watch at 14:24)

In that August 2025 interview, Miegel described the financing as more expensive but did not identify the comparison, rate or term. He described BetterComp’s funding before the Series A as friends and family capital and revenue-based financing, with no large equity rounds (watch at 15:00).

The Founderpath financing, as the sources describe it

We found no term sheet in the public sources reviewed on October 30, 2026. The table lists what BetterComp and Miegel have said in public. These are first-party accounts by the company that took the money, attributed and dated.

Term	What the source says	Source
Amount	$1.75 million	BetterComp blog, read October 30, 2026
Type	Non-dilutive funding; Miegel calls it revenue-based financing	BetterComp blog; Miegel, August 2025 (14:13)
Why	To bridge timing; a bridge to the next round	Miegel, August 2025 (14:13)
Timing	Before the July 2025 Series A; exact date not stated in the sources reviewed	BetterComp blog, read October 2026
Cost	Rate not stated in reviewed sources; Miegel described it as more expensive	Miegel, August 2025 (14:20)
Equity given up	None stated; BetterComp calls it non-dilutive	BetterComp blog, read October 2026
Term and repayment	Not stated in the sources reviewed	BetterComp blog; August 2025 podcast

Founderpath’s terms today may differ from this deal’s. Its revenue financing page lists, as of October 2026, a discount rate from 7% and no equity or warrants. The sources reviewed do not state BetterComp’s own rate or term. For how this kind of capital works in general, see the revenue-based financing guide.

The $33 million Series A in July 2025

On July 22, 2025, BetterComp announced a $33 million Series A led by Ten Coves Capital. SiliconANGLE and Built In reported it the same day, and the law firm Gunderson Dettmer said it represented Ten Coves as lead investor. The company said the money would go to AI-powered market pricing and pay recommendations, new product areas and scaling operations.

In the release BetterComp reported 100% year-over-year growth in each of the two previous years, said 38% of its customers were Fortune 500 companies and said headcount had grown 33% so far in 2025. Those are the company’s figures; SiliconANGLE noted the growth was off an undisclosed base. Miegel was quoted saying the company had bootstrapped since inception; on the podcast he described that period as founder money, convertible notes and revenue-based financing, with no large equity round.

In the Practical Founders interview a month later he described the round in more detail. Part of it was debt from Silicon Valley Bank, about $17 million was primary capital and some was secondary, and founders, executives and employees still own about 65% of the company (watch at 15:23). The episode’s show notes describe it as a combined $33 million of growth equity from Ten Coves and venture debt from Silicon Valley Bank.

This is still a minority stake. We still retain full control.

Alan Miegel, co-founder and CEO, BetterComp, on the Practical Founders podcast, August 2025 (watch at 16:08)

Did the Founderpath money lead to the Series A?

The sources reviewed do not establish that link. BetterComp places the Founderpath funding before the round, and Miegel describes revenue-based financing as a bridge to the next round and a way to take the minimum needed to show growth. Neither says the financing caused the Series A, changed its price or its terms. An earlier version of this page said it did; those claims are removed.

What the sources do show is the order of events. BetterComp reached its July 2025 round without a large equity round before it, using founder money, convertible notes and Founderpath’s non-dilutive funding, and it sold a minority stake when it did raise, according to his August 2025 account.

What founders can take from BetterComp

1. Take the minimum that gets you to the next phase. Miegel’s rule for every round before 2025 was to raise just enough to show growth.
2. Use non-dilutive capital as a bridge, and know its cost. He called revenue-based financing more expensive and valued it for speed. Compare offers on the same cash and the same horizon before you sign.
3. Sell small slices. BetterComp’s early rounds were small convertible notes, and the 2025 round left founders, executives and employees with about 65%, by Miegel’s account.
4. Wait for the round you want. Miegel said BetterComp looked at earlier rounds that would have helped at the time but would have cost the founders full control (watch at 15:58).

For other founder accounts, see the Customers.ai case study and the ContactMonkey case study.

Funding growth without giving up equity

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Sources and method

We checked every fact on this page on October 30, 2026. The financing facts come from BetterComp’s own blog and from Alan Miegel’s words on the Practical Founders podcast, so they are first-party accounts by the company rather than independent verification; each is attributed where it appears. The $1.75 million also matches the named-deal figure in Founderpath’s product reference. Quotes are short continuous excerpts from the podcast’s automatic captions, with punctuation added. The Series A announcement is supported by the company release and reporting by SiliconANGLE and Built In; Gunderson Dettmer confirms its role advising the lead investor, and Pulse 2.0 carries additional coverage. An earlier version of this page said the founders kept 100% of their equity, that the Founderpath capital raised BetterComp’s valuation and won better Series A terms, and compared Founderpath with venture capital using figures it did not source; those claims are removed because no source supports them, and the founders had in fact sold equity through convertible notes.

• The Future of Comp is Coming, Fueled by Bettercomp’s $33M in Series A Funding, Alan Miegel, BetterComp blog (undated), read October 30, 2026
• $33M Growth Equity After Friends/Family Funding to $10M ARR, Practical Founders podcast with Alan Miegel, hosted by Greg Head, August 22, 2025, and its show notes
• BetterComp Secures $33M Series A to Expand into New Markets and Advance AI in Compensation Practices, Business Wire release, July 22, 2025
• BetterComp raises $33M to expand compensation management platform, SiliconANGLE, July 22, 2025
• BetterComp Raises $33M to Expand AI-Powered Compensation Tools, Built In, July 22, 2025
• Ten Coves Leads $33M Series A Financing of BetterComp, Gunderson Dettmer, July 22, 2025
• BetterComp: $33 Million Series A Raised For Compensation Management Platform, Pulse 2.0, July 24, 2025
• BetterComp company profile, Built In SF, and BetterComp about page, read October 30, 2026

BetterComp and Founderpath FAQ

Financing answers below draw on BetterComp’s blog, reviewed October 2026, the July 2025 announcement and Miegel’s August 2025 interview.

What does BetterComp do?

BetterComp makes market pricing software for compensation teams. It brings salary survey data together, matches jobs to it, models pay ranges and reports on them, so companies can set pay for each role against the market.

Who founded BetterComp and where is it based?

Alan Miegel, Sandra Leon and Derek Watson founded BetterComp in late 2019. Miegel is its CEO. Built In SF lists its headquarters as Walnut Creek, California, as checked in October 2026.

How much did BetterComp raise in its Series A?

BetterComp announced a $33 million Series A led by Ten Coves Capital on July 22, 2025. Miegel later said the round also involved venture debt from Silicon Valley Bank and some secondary, with about $17 million of primary capital.

How much funding did BetterComp get from Founderpath?

BetterComp’s blog, checked in October 2026, says it used $1.75 million in non-dilutive funding from Founderpath before the Series A. Miegel described it as revenue-based financing used to bridge timing. The sources reviewed do not state the financing date, rate or term.

Was BetterComp bootstrapped?

BetterComp called itself bootstrapped before the 2025 round, meaning it had not raised a large equity round. Miegel said it was funded by the founders, by convertible notes from friends and angels, and by revenue-based financing from Founderpath.

Who owns BetterComp after the Series A?

Miegel said in August 2025 that BetterComp’s founders, executives and employees still own about 65% of the company and that Ten Coves holds a minority stake.

Did the Founderpath funding cause BetterComp’s Series A?

The sources reviewed do not establish that link. BetterComp places the Founderpath funding before the round, and Miegel called revenue-based financing a bridge to the next round, but neither says it caused the Series A or changed its terms.