# Can a small business license data to AI?

> Wondering if a small business can sell data to AI? It can license some. Staff floors run from none to 30+, with a 20-person scenario by program.

By Matt Burns, Vaultfish. Canonical: https://vaultfish.com/answers/can-a-small-business-sell-data-to-ai  
Published: 2026-09-04  
Updated: 2026-10-14

## The short answer

Yes, at some programs. Handshake AI's referral page asks for 20+ full-time staff and 3+ years. The micro1 data partnership starts at 30+ employees. Troveo and Mercor state no minimum, and SimpleClosure's Asset Hub takes data from closing companies. Each is the company's own claim, and none promises a deal.

Headcount is usually the first rule a program states, when it states one. Each program below publishes its own staff floor, or none, and every one of them is the company's own claim.

## Which staff minimums do AI data programs state?

Published floors run from none to 30 employees. [micro1](/buyers/micro1)'s data partnership asks for 30+ employees and mature operations. [Handshake AI](/buyers/handshake-ai) looks for 20+ full-time staff and 3+ years in operation. [Troveo](/buyers/troveo) and [Mercor](/buyers/mercor) state no staff minimum.

- **Handshake AI:** Its 20+ floor appears on its page for people who introduce companies. Its page for companies states none.
- **Troveo:** Its [business data page](https://www.troveo.ai/business-data) states no minimum. The value estimator's headcount slider starts at 20, which is a form setting.
- **Mercor:** Its [data page](https://www.mercor.com/data/) states no size minimum. It names target industries instead, such as legal, healthcare, finance, logistics and real estate.
- **The micro1 data partnership:** Its [data partnerships page](https://www.micro1.ai/data-partnerships) is for "operationally mature companies with 30+ employees" that operate in English, with demand strongest in the US, UK and Canada.

micro1 states no data-size minimum. It runs this as a partnership and says companies keep ownership of their data. A separate [micro1 post](https://req.micro1.ai/post/74520e8b-4673-4da5-b855-53609aaf6710) asks for 30 to 200 employees, well-defined workflows and significant internal documentation.

Figure: scale, Published staff floors at two programs: Handshake AI 20 or more (emphasized), micro1 30 or more. Handshake AI's stated floor is ten employees below micro1's 30. Source: joinhandshake.com/ai/data-partnerships/referral and micro1.ai/data-partnerships, self-reported.

## Does Handshake AI have a staff minimum?

Yes, though it sits on a separate page. Handshake AI's [page for people who introduce companies](https://joinhandshake.com/ai/data-partnerships/referral) asks for 20+ full-time employees and 3+ years in operation. Its [data partnerships page](https://joinhandshake.com/ai/data-partnerships/), the one written for companies, states no minimum.

The introductions page says Handshake AI is "looking for companies with 20+ full time employees & 3+ years in operation." The company page's estimator asks for headcount, years in operation and country.

I treat that as the floor Handshake AI applies, since its company page never says otherwise. Confirm it with Handshake AI before you plan around it.

## Can a 20-person company license data to AI?

A 20-person company can at some programs. If it has run for three years or more, it meets Handshake AI's stated floor. It falls short of micro1's 30+ floor. Troveo and Mercor publish no floor, so fit comes down to the records.

### The 20-person scenario, program by program

**A 20-person company against each program's stated size rule. Checked means I read the source on that date.**

| Program | What it says about size | Source | A 20-person company |
|---|---|---|---|
| micro1 data partnership | 30+ employees, operationally mature, operates in English. No data-size minimum | micro1 data partnerships page | Below the floor |
| micro1 Enterprise Data Partnership post | 30 to 200 employees, well-defined workflows, significant internal documentation | micro1 post (undated) | Below the floor |
| Handshake AI data partnerships | No staff minimum. The estimator asks headcount, years and country | Handshake AI data partnerships page | No floor on this page |
| Handshake AI introductions page | 20+ full-time employees and 3+ years in operation | Handshake AI page for people who introduce companies | Meets it at 3+ years old |
| Troveo | No minimum. The estimator's headcount starts at 20 | Troveo business data page | No stated floor |
| Mercor | No size minimum. Names target industries | Mercor data page | No stated floor |
| SimpleClosure Asset Hub | No staff minimum. Built for wind-downs, open to operating companies | SimpleClosure AssetHub page (undated) | Closing or operating |

micro1's numbers have moved. In an undated recorded forum talk, micro1 staff named 20 full-time employees and about 1 TB of data, and David Revland of micro1 about 80% English.

In an undated micro1 video, a micro1 referral partner put the screen at about 25 to 30 employees and up.

micro1's written pages say 30+ today, so both remarks are history and decide nothing. The [micro1 minimum employees page](/answers/micro1-data-partnership-minimum-employees) tracks each figure, and the [micro1 guide](/guides/micro1-data-partnership) covers the program.

_The count is full-time staff. The dog that joins every call does not qualify._

## Does micro1 set a data size or language rule?

micro1 sets a language rule only. Its data partnerships page says micro1 is primarily looking for companies that operate in English, and it states no data-size minimum. Handshake AI, Troveo and Mercor publish no size or language floor.

A size count by tool still helps, since micro1 lists dataset size among the factors that set compensation. In the same undated talk, micro1's David Revland said the data manifest form asks for rough sizes per tool.

The [data manifest form page](/answers/what-is-a-data-manifest-form) shows how to find those sizes.

## How do the Troveo and Handshake AI estimators work?

Troveo and Handshake AI both run estimators on their own pages, and each returns that company's own range, not an offer. Troveo's asks for headcount and years in operation among its questions, and Handshake AI's for headcount, years in operation and country.

Enter your own counts for a number. Handshake AI's page calls its figure "an indicative estimate only", and Troveo's calls its own "a directional estimate". Years in operation are an input in both. The [years page](/answers/how-many-years-of-data-do-ai-labs-want) compares what programs ask for.

## What if you have fewer than 20 people?

Smaller firms still have routes, and the published prices for them run lower. [A Troveo guide](https://www.troveo.ai/resources/sell-data-to-ai-companies) says "value comes from uniqueness, history, and context more than company size."

Its [price guide](https://www.troveo.ai/resources/how-much-is-company-data-worth) adds that a 40-person firm with a decade of specialized operational records can hold more training value than a 4,000-person company with generic data. Troveo licenses data, so read that as its view. I found no published deal that tests it.

On price, the same guide says "A 60-person software company isn't going to see that figure", meaning Google's $10 million winning bid for Spirit Airlines' archive, which still needs court approval.

The guide also points to reporting on closure platforms: about $5,000 for a single code repository, and roughly $10,000 to $100,000 for a shut-down startup's code and workspace archive.

Those figures come from companies winding down, which is the next route.

## What about a company that is closing?

[SimpleClosure](/buyers/simpleclosure) [launched its Asset Hub in April 2026](https://simpleclosure.com/blog/insights/simpleclosure-asset-hub/) for founders closing their companies. Its [AssetHub page](https://simpleclosure.com/product/assethub/) now says operating companies can license too. It states no staff minimum.

[Gizmodo reported](https://gizmodo.com/failed-companies-are-selling-old-slack-chats-and-email-archives-to-train-ai-2000747916), citing Forbes, that SimpleClosure had processed nearly 100 such deals over the past year, with payouts of $10,000 to $100,000 per company.

My pages on [shutting down and licensing Slack data](/answers/can-a-shutting-down-company-sell-its-slack-to-ai), [SimpleClosure's cost](/answers/how-much-does-simpleclosure-cost) and [SimpleClosure vs Troveo](/answers/simpleclosure-vs-troveo) cover that route.

## What can a small business license?

A small business can license records of real work, with their history kept. Troveo lists chat, email, documents, tickets, wikis, CRM, support, ledgers and code. Mercor asks companies to connect tools such as Slack, Gmail, Salesforce, GitHub and Notion.

Rights come before any of it. A record that holds customers' words, an NDA's subject matter, privileged advice or employee conversations may not be yours to license. Start with the [rights check](/rights-check) and the [risk map](/risks).

The [guide to licensing company data](/guides/how-to-sell-company-data-to-ai-companies) lists what qualifies and what to exclude.

## How does data monetization for small business work?

[MIT Sloan research](https://mitsloan.mit.edu/press/data-everybodys-business-fundamentals-data-monetization) (October 2023) found most data monetization returns come from using data yourself: 51% from improving operations and 31% from wrapping data into products, against 18% from selling information.

The research does not single out small businesses. See [what is data monetization](/answers/what-is-data-monetization) and the [monetize company data guide](/guides/monetize-company-data).

## What should a small company do first?

A small company should first count full-time staff and years in operation, add up data size by tool, and note the main language of each tool's records. The four answers cover most program questions.

The free [fit check](/business) and the [rights check](/rights-check) collect them. Optional, paid [managed readiness](/managed-readiness) does the counting with you, quoted in writing first. We work from descriptions and counts and never receive your records.

Figure: steps Count staff, years, size, language -> Compare program floors -> Choose a route. The counts and a comparison with each program's floor come before the route.

micro1's post takes applications from companies with 30 to 200 employees.

[See micro1's post for 30 to 200 employees (paid link)](https://req.micro1.ai/post/74520e8b-4673-4da5-b855-53609aaf6710?referralCode=f82e519e-5d64-4e0e-9574-760c84371cf2&utm_source=referral&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=data_referral) · [micro1's own data-partnerships page](https://www.micro1.ai/data-partnerships)

_Paid link. [How we are paid](https://vaultfish.com/disclosure)_

micro1 may pay us a referral fee if a company we introduce goes ahead with it. [How we are paid](https://vaultfish.com/disclosure)

_Vaultfish helps you run the process. We are not lawyers and this is not legal advice. If you need counsel who knows this area, we can point you to one._

## Sources

- [business data page](https://www.troveo.ai/business-data)
- [data page](https://www.mercor.com/data/)
- [data partnerships page](https://www.micro1.ai/data-partnerships)
- [micro1 post](https://req.micro1.ai/post/74520e8b-4673-4da5-b855-53609aaf6710)
- [page for people who introduce companies](https://joinhandshake.com/ai/data-partnerships/referral)
- [data partnerships page](https://joinhandshake.com/ai/data-partnerships/)
- [A Troveo guide](https://www.troveo.ai/resources/sell-data-to-ai-companies)
- [price guide](https://www.troveo.ai/resources/how-much-is-company-data-worth)
- [launched its Asset Hub in April 2026](https://simpleclosure.com/blog/insights/simpleclosure-asset-hub/)
- [AssetHub page](https://simpleclosure.com/product/assethub/)
- [Gizmodo reported](https://gizmodo.com/failed-companies-are-selling-old-slack-chats-and-email-archives-to-train-ai-2000747916)
- [MIT Sloan research](https://mitsloan.mit.edu/press/data-everybodys-business-fundamentals-data-monetization)