Comparison
Mercor vs micro1: two separate companies, compared for business owners
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The short answer
No, Mercor and micro1 are not the same company. Mercor was founded in 2023 by Brendan Foody, Adarsh Hiremath and Surya Midha; micro1 was founded in 2022 by Ali Ansari. They compete, and both buy company data. micro1 publishes price tiers from $100K to $3M+, a 30+ employee floor and payment within 30 days of acceptance. Mercor publishes no size floor, shows $10K to $1.5M by company type on its referral listings, charges no fees, and pays by wire on delivery, typically 2 to 4 weeks after signing. For referrers, Mercor advertises up to $100,000 per company; micro1 pays $50,000 or $75,000 plus 7.5% above set deal sizes.
Mercor vs micro1 side by side
| Mercor | micro1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Founded 2023 by Brendan Foody, Adarsh Hiremath, Surya Midha; San Francisco (source: Wikipedia, Mercor) | Founded 2022 by Ali Ansari; reported as Palo Alto by Fortune and San Francisco by Forbes Australia (source: Fortune, Sep 14, 2026, Forbes Australia, Sep 23, 2026) |
| Funding | $350M Series C at $10B, Oct 2025 (source: TechCrunch, Oct 27, 2025) | $35M Series A at $500M, Sep 2025; reported $100M+ at $4B, Sep 2026 (source: Fortune, Sep 14, 2026, Forbes Australia, Sep 23, 2026) |
| What it buys | Workflow data from Slack, Gmail, Salesforce, GitHub, Notion and 100+ tools (source: Mercor, Monetize your data) | SOPs, knowledge bases, internal communications, CRM, support tickets, project histories (source: micro1, data partnerships) |
| Eligibility | No headcount, years or geography published; eight target industries (source: Mercor, Monetize your data) | 30+ full-time employees, several years of records, mostly English, US first (source: micro1, data partnerships) |
| Advertised pay | $10K to $1.5M by company type on its referral listings; final price on volume, tools and depth (source: Mercor referral app, Mercor, Monetize your data) | $100K to $500K; $500K to $3M; $3M+ (source: micro1, data partnerships) |
| Payment timing | Wire on delivery, typically 2 to 4 weeks after signing (source: Mercor, Monetize your data) | In full within 30 days of acceptance (source: micro1, data partnerships) |
| Fees to the seller | None; no upfront costs, setup fees or deductions (source: Mercor, Monetize your data) | None published; no need to anonymize first (source: micro1, data partnerships) |
| Data handling | Automated anonymization, approval before anything leaves, SOC 2 Type II (source: Mercor, Monetize your data) | PII removed or transformed, isolated pipelines, sample review, raw data deleted on schedule (source: micro1, data partnerships) |
| Exclusivity | Not mentioned | Not stated |
| Referral | Up to $100,000 per company; full amount at 30+ employees (source: Mercor referral app) | $50,000 (enterprise, to $700K) or $75,000 (defunct, to $1M), 7.5% above (source: micro1, company referral) |
| Recent news | March 2026 security incident and class actions; $7.5M Spirit Airlines bid (source: Fortune, Apr 2, 2026, Forbes, Aug 23, 2026) | $1B 12-month data commitment, Oct 9, 2026; $12.5M Spirit Airlines offer (source: micro1, $1B announcement (Oct 9, 2026), Fortune, Sep 14, 2026) |
Full profiles: Mercor data partnerships and micro1 data partnerships. Comparing a third buyer? See Mercor vs Handshake AI or the three-way micro1 vs Mercor vs Handshake.
Are Mercor and micro1 the same company?
No. They are separate companies with different founders, investors and histories. Mercor (Mercor.io Corporation) was founded in San Francisco in 2023 by Brendan Foody, Adarsh Hiremath and Surya Midha (source: Wikipedia, Mercor), and Foody and Hiremath sign as co-CEOs (source: Mercor, mission). It raised $350 million at a $10 billion valuation in October 2025 (source: TechCrunch, Oct 27, 2025), and Forbes reported talks in July 2026 for about $500 million at $20 billion, which we could not confirm closed (source: Forbes, Jul 9, 2026).
micro1 was founded in 2022 by Ali Ansari, who started it at UC Berkeley as an AI recruiting business. It raised a $35 million Series A at a $500 million valuation in September 2025 (source: Fortune, Sep 14, 2026), and Forbes Australia reported a round of more than $100 million at a $4 billion valuation in September 2026, citing two people familiar with the deal (source: Forbes Australia, Sep 23, 2026).
The confusion is understandable. Both recruit experts to create training data for AI labs, both added programs that buy records from companies, and both bid for the same bankrupt airline's data in 2026 (source: Forbes, Aug 23, 2026, Fortune, Sep 14, 2026). For a business owner, the useful point is that they are two independent buyers, so they can put two independent offers in front of you.
What Mercor and micro1 buy
Mercor buys workflow data pulled from the tools your team works in: Slack, Teams, Gmail, Outlook, Confluence, Salesforce, GitHub, Drive and Notion by name, and “100+ supported tools” in all. It says connecting more tools generally results in a higher payout (source: Mercor, Monetize your data).
micro1 describes the records by type rather than by tool: operating procedures, process documents, knowledge bases, internal communications, CRM data, support tickets and project histories. It names six domains (software and engineering, finance and accounting, customer support, sales and CRM, legal and contracts, operations and logistics) and also offers to license trajectories from a company's AI agents, with the company's approval (source: micro1, data partnerships).
In practice the overlap is large. A company with years of tickets, SOPs and CRM history is the kind of seller both describe.
Who qualifies for each program
micro1 is explicit: 30+ full-time employees, mature operations, several years of records, primarily in English. It prioritizes US companies, then other Western markets, and says demand is strongest in the US, UK and Canada (source: micro1, data partnerships). Its operating-company form describes 30 to 200 employees (source: micro1 operating-company form), and its defunct-company form asks for 50+ employees at peak across 10 listed countries (source: micro1 defunct-company form).
Mercor publishes no headcount, years or geography for sellers. It names eight target industries (legal, healthcare, finance and insurance, professional services, manufacturing, retail and e-commerce, real estate, logistics and supply chain) and uses a qualification form (source: Mercor, Monetize your data). One hint about size sits in its referral app: the full referral amount applies to companies with 30 or more employees (source: Mercor referral app).
Advertised pay: micro1's tiers vs Mercor's formula
micro1 headlines “We're paying out $100k-3M+” and lists three tiers: $100K to $500K for a qualified Enterprise Data Partnership, $500K to $3M for large-scale datasets or ongoing participation across multiple teams, and $3M+ for highly unique proprietary data. Agent trajectories are advertised at $1M to $2M a year (source: micro1, data partnerships). Those tiers were raised since October 15, 2026, when they read $100K+, $500K+ and $1M+.
Mercor gives no figures. Price is based on data volume, the number of tools connected and data depth (source: Mercor, Monetize your data). So the gap is about information, not necessarily price: micro1 tells you roughly where you stand before a call, and Mercor tells you after scoping. Both sets of figures are advertised terms, not offers. Our company data value checker shows what each program advertises for a business like yours.
Payment timing
Mercor pays by wire on delivery of the anonymized dataset to the buyer, typically 2 to 4 weeks after signing (source: Mercor, Monetize your data). micro1 says “We pay in full within 30 days of acceptance.” Its FAQ describes up to 30 days for micro1 to review and approve the data, then an invoice, with payment within 30 days of invoicing (source: micro1, data partnerships). micro1 began publishing this timing after October 15.
In both cases the trigger is what matters. “Delivery” and “acceptance” should each be defined in the contract, with what happens to your payment if the data is rejected.
Fees to the seller
Mercor says there are no upfront costs, setup fees or deductions, and that it covers extraction, anonymization and transfer (source: Mercor, Monetize your data). micro1 publishes no seller fee and says companies do not need to anonymize data before transfer because it handles de-identification (source: micro1, data partnerships). In either case, confirm in the offer that the price you sign for is the amount you receive.
Data handling and ownership
Mercor says nothing leaves your systems until you approve it, extraction and anonymization are automated, no AI lab or third-party vendor sees raw data, credentials are held per session, data is encrypted in transit, keys are managed in AWS KMS, and it holds SOC 2 Type II (source: Mercor, Monetize your data).
micro1 says it removes or transforms personal information, may synthetically rewrite datasets, keeps each company's data in isolated pipelines, lets the company review samples, and deletes raw data on an agreed schedule. It says companies keep ownership of their underlying data, that licensed data goes only to US and allied buyers, and that it will not resell or distribute data until personal and identifying information is anonymized (source: micro1, data partnerships).
Mercor's record belongs here too. In March 2026 it was hit by a supply-chain attack on the LiteLLM library, Meta paused work with it, and contractor class actions followed; Mercor denies wrongdoing (source: Fortune, Apr 2, 2026, Social Media Today, Apr 5, 2026, Staffing Industry Analysts). We found no report that company-data program records were involved. The full account is on our Mercor profile.
Exclusivity
Neither page says whether a license is exclusive (source: Mercor, Monetize your data, micro1, data partnerships). (micro1's use of “exclusively” refers to selling only to US and allied buyers, not to seller exclusivity.) This is the term that decides whether you can take the same records to the other company, so ask both in writing before you sign with either.
Referral terms: Mercor vs micro1
Mercor's referral app advertises “Up to $100,000 per company,” the full amount for companies with 30 or more employees and a proportional share for smaller ones. The bonus is confirmed when the company signs and paid after its first delivery, through Stripe. Referrers need a Mercor Data partner account, cannot refer their own company, and can have up to five referrals awaiting review (source: Mercor referral app). On October 15 the app read “5% of the deal, up to $100,000.”
micro1 pays $50,000 for Enterprise Data Partnership deals up to $700,000 and $75,000 for Defunct Company deals up to $1 million, with 7.5% of deal value above those amounts, and 7.5% for other partnerships (source: micro1, company referral). Its terms give micro1 discretion on payout timing, allow clawbacks, require written consent from an authorized person at the company, and bar referrers from presenting themselves as micro1's agent or partner (source: micro1 referral terms (updated Oct 14, 2026)). The referral page says payment is by wire after the data is transferred and approved; the data page FAQ says rewards are paid once the company reaches revenue milestones (source: micro1, company referral, micro1, data partnerships).
For the professional rules on referral fees, see our comparison of AI data referral programs.
Recent news on Mercor and micro1
- October 9, 2026: micro1 announced a $1 billion, 12-month commitment to buying enterprise data, financed by Citi and Hercules Capital (source: micro1, $1B announcement (Oct 9, 2026), The Next Web, Oct 9, 2026).
- September 2026: Forbes Australia reported micro1 raised more than $100 million at a $4 billion valuation; micro1 declined to comment (source: Forbes Australia, Sep 23, 2026).
- August and September 2026: Google won the auction for bankrupt Spirit Airlines' records at $10 million over Mercor's $7.5 million, and micro1 then filed a $12.5 million offer. No sale had court approval as of Fortune's September 14 report (source: Forbes, Aug 23, 2026, Fortune, Sep 14, 2026).
- July 2026: Forbes reported Mercor in talks to raise about $500 million at a $20 billion valuation (source: Forbes, Jul 9, 2026), and Dealroom reported a gross revenue run rate above $2 billion (source: Dealroom, Jul 6, 2026 (Mercor)).
- March and April 2026: Mercor's security incident, Meta's pause and the contractor class actions (source: Fortune, Apr 2, 2026, Social Media Today, Apr 5, 2026, Staffing Industry Analysts).
Mercor or micro1: which fits your business
These scenarios use only each company's published terms. They are a starting point, not a verdict.
| If your business... | What the published terms suggest |
|---|---|
| Has 30 to 200 employees, years of SOPs, tickets and CRM history, mostly in English, in the US | Both describe you. Ask both for written offers. |
| Has fewer than 30 employees | micro1's floor is 30+. Mercor publishes no floor, so its qualification form is the way to find out. |
| Has closed or wound down, with 50+ employees at peak | micro1 has a dedicated defunct-company program. Mercor has no published one. |
| Runs mostly on Slack, Gmail, Salesforce, GitHub or Notion | Mercor prices partly on the number of tools connected, so a wide tool footprint is its stated lever. |
| Wants to know a likely price range before a first call | micro1 publishes tiers. Mercor gives a number only after scoping. |
| Is outside the US | micro1 prioritizes the US, then other Western markets. Mercor states no geography. |
| Is a law or accounting firm | Client materials, client books and tax return information are never licensable to either. Only firm-owned material with no client information can be in scope. |
For every other program we track, including ones that name your industry, see the directory of companies buying business data for AI.
Why competing offers matter
The Spirit Airlines records show how far apart two buyers can be on the same data. Mercor bid $7.5 million. micro1 later offered $12.5 million, $5 million more, trying to top the $10 million bid with which Google had won the auction (source: Forbes, Aug 23, 2026, Fortune, Sep 14, 2026). That was a public bankruptcy auction. A private license has no auction unless you create one.
The terms differ as much as the price
Payment trigger, exclusivity, deletion, end buyer and liability vary between buyers. Two written offers let you see which terms are negotiable. Getting those offers and negotiating them is the work a sell-side advisor does.
How Regulr is paid, and how we write these pages
Regulr is a sell-side advisor. When a business we introduce signs a license, we may be paid a fee by the buyer or through a program's referral terms. We list every program we can verify whether or not it pays us, order is never set by fees, and every figure is the company's own advertised term with a link to where it says so. Regulr has not closed a data deal yet, so nothing here describes our results.
Frequently asked questions
Are Mercor and micro1 the same company?
No. Mercor and micro1 are separate, competing companies with different founders and investors. Mercor was founded in 2023 by Brendan Foody, Adarsh Hiremath and Surya Midha and is based in San Francisco. micro1 was founded in 2022 by Ali Ansari, who started it at UC Berkeley. Both supply human expert data to AI labs and both buy company data, which is why people mix them up.
Mercor vs micro1: which pays more for company data?
Both now publish numbers, in different shapes. Mercor's referral listings show what each company type could earn, from $10K to $300K at the low end up to $100K to $1.5M for manufacturers. micro1 advertises $100K to $500K for a qualified partnership, $500K to $3M for large-scale or multi-team datasets, and $3M+ for highly unique data. Mercor says the final price depends on data volume, tools connected and depth. The only real comparison is two written offers for the same records.
micro1 vs Mercor: which pays faster?
Mercor says it pays by wire on delivery of the anonymized dataset, typically 2 to 4 weeks after signing. micro1 says it pays in full within 30 days of acceptance, and its FAQ describes up to 30 days to review and approve the data, then an invoice paid within 30 days. On their own published terms, Mercor's path is shorter, but the contract's definition of delivery or acceptance decides when money actually arrives.
What size company do Mercor and micro1 want?
micro1 asks for 30+ full-time employees, mature operations and several years of records, mostly in English, and its operating-company form describes 30 to 200 employees. Mercor publishes no headcount, years or geography for sellers and screens through a qualification form. Mercor's referral app does pay its full referral amount only for companies with 30 or more employees.
Does micro1 or Mercor buy data from closed companies?
micro1 runs a Defunct Company Data Partnership, and its form asks for 50+ employees at peak and lists 10 countries. Mercor has no published defunct-company program, though AI Weekly reported in August 2026 that it approached Warmly about its code base after Warmly's acquisition. Both bid for bankrupt Spirit Airlines' records in 2026.
How do the Mercor and micro1 referral programs compare?
Mercor's referral app advertises up to $100,000 per company, the full amount for companies with 30 or more employees, paid after the company's first delivery through Stripe. micro1 pays $50,000 for enterprise deals up to $700,000 and $75,000 for defunct-company deals up to $1 million, with 7.5% of deal value above those amounts, by wire after the data is transferred and approved. Both programs bar referring a company already in contact with them.
Can I license my data to both Mercor and micro1?
Possibly. Neither company's page says whether its license is exclusive. If one takes an exclusive license, you generally cannot license the same records to anyone else for the term. Ask each in writing whether the license is exclusive, for how long and over which records before you sign with either.
Do I need to anonymize my data before sending it to Mercor or micro1?
No, according to both. micro1 says companies do not need to anonymize before transfer because it handles de-identification, and Mercor says it covers extraction and automated anonymization. You still decide what is excluded entirely, and you should agree in writing on a sample review before delivery.
Who owns my data after licensing to micro1 or Mercor?
micro1 says companies keep ownership of their underlying data and that it deletes raw data on an agreed schedule. Mercor's page does not address ownership directly, though it describes a licensed, anonymized copy and says nothing leaves your systems until you approve it. Put ownership, permitted uses and deletion in the contract with either one.
Sources
Program terms checked against each company's own pages on November 8, 2026.
- Mercor, Monetize your data
- Mercor referral app
- Mercor, mission
- Fortune, Apr 2, 2026
- Staffing Industry Analysts
- Wikipedia, Mercor
- TechCrunch, Oct 27, 2025
- Forbes, Jul 9, 2026
- Dealroom, Jul 6, 2026 (Mercor)
- Social Media Today, Apr 5, 2026
- micro1, data partnerships
- micro1, company referral
- micro1 referral terms (updated Oct 14, 2026)
- micro1 operating-company form
- micro1 defunct-company form
- micro1, $1B announcement (Oct 9, 2026)
- The Next Web, Oct 9, 2026
- Forbes Australia, Sep 23, 2026
- Fortune, Sep 14, 2026
- Forbes, Aug 23, 2026
Brian Boesen · Founder, Regulr AI
Brian runs Regulr AI, which works for established businesses that want to license de-identified records to AI companies. He checks each program's published terms against its own pages and updates these guides when they change. Last updated November 8, 2026.
This page is general information, not legal advice, and Regulr is not a law firm. Rules vary by state, by profession and by contract, and they apply to your facts, not to a category. You approve exactly what is in scope before anything is shared.
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