# License startup data to AI: shutdown and live routes

> Searching how to sell startup data to AI? A live company licenses a corpus. A closing one lists code and workspace data via Asset Hub. Both, with dated payouts.

By Matt Burns, Vaultfish. Canonical: https://vaultfish.com/answers/sell-startup-data-to-ai  
Published: 2026-07-03  
Updated: 2026-10-14

## The short answer

A closing startup lists its data through a shutdown service like SimpleClosure, which reported nearly 100 deals at $10,000 to $100,000 per company. A live startup can apply to a direct program like Handshake AI, which asks for 20+ full-time employees and 3+ years, or use Troveo's marketplace.

Startups hold the data buyers describe wanting: chat, tickets, code and documents from a small team that did everything in a few tools.

## How does a closing startup license its data?

SimpleClosure [announced its Asset Hub](https://simpleclosure.com/blog/insights/simpleclosure-asset-hub/) on 16 Apr 2026. It lists source code and workspace data, in beta then, and names AI companies, research labs and enterprise teams as buyers.

Its CEO, Dori Yona, [wrote](https://simpleclosure.com/blog/guides/how-real-are-those-million-dollar-data-offers/) that assets have come from more than 350 companies. She advises founders to check a buyer's completed deals, define what transfers, scrub personal and third-party material, and get payment terms in writing.

Mercor approached failed or acquired startups for datasets, with offers as high as $300,000 ([BigGo](https://finance.biggo.com/news/d34746c0-e437-4855-93c5-09c6e850550d)). Bloomberg reported ([The Next Web](https://thenextweb.com/news/spacex-dead-startups-data-grok)) that SpaceX held informal talks about buying operational records from troubled startups.

## Where does a live startup go?

A live startup can go to a direct program or a marketplace. [Handshake AI](/buyers/handshake-ai)'s referral page asks for 20+ full-time employees and 3+ years, and [Troveo](/buyers/troveo) states no minimum.

[micro1](/buyers/micro1)'s [data partnerships page](https://www.micro1.ai/data-partnerships) lists tiers of $100K+, $500K+ and $1M+, and its [Enterprise Data Partnership listing](https://www.micro1.ai/company-referral) says $100K-$2M+ for approved data packages. micro1 says companies keep ownership of their underlying data.

micro1's current public criteria list 30+ employees, mature operations and primarily English documentation, with US companies prioritized (self-reported). Acceptance depends on its review and current demand.

In an undated forum talk, David Revland, who works on human data at micro1, described steps that run from a first call to a data manifest form, a payment proposal, contract, transfer and payment. See [the data manifest form](/answers/what-is-a-data-manifest-form).

## What if the startup has already failed?

A failed startup follows the closing route, with decisions made by its board and stockholders. [Delaware law](https://delcode.delaware.gov/title8/c001/sc10/index.html) ties a sale of substantially all assets to stockholder approval, covered in [licensing a Slack workspace during a shutdown](/answers/can-a-shutting-down-company-sell-its-slack-to-ai).

A bankruptcy adds a court. The Spirit Airlines sale shows how that looks, on our [Spirit Airlines page](/answers/spirit-airlines-data-sale). To compare the services that run shutdowns, see [startup wind down services](/answers/startup-wind-down-service).

## What should a founder check first?

Your investor, customer and vendor contracts, your NDAs and your employees' messages. Our [rights check](/rights-check) asks about customer contracts, NDAs, staff messages and investor approval, and the [risk map](/risks) lists where deals break.

Talk to a privacy or commercial lawyer in your state before you sign.

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

Figure: scale, Reported startup data payouts, per company: Shutdown payouts $10K to $100K, micro1 corpus deals $100K to $2M (emphasized). Shutdown payouts end where corpus deals begin. Source: Gizmodo and micro1's referral page, both self-reported.

[Apply to micro1's data partnership (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)_

_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

- [announced its Asset Hub](https://simpleclosure.com/blog/insights/simpleclosure-asset-hub/)
- [wrote](https://simpleclosure.com/blog/guides/how-real-are-those-million-dollar-data-offers/)
- [BigGo](https://finance.biggo.com/news/d34746c0-e437-4855-93c5-09c6e850550d)
- [The Next Web](https://thenextweb.com/news/spacex-dead-startups-data-grok)
- [data partnerships page](https://www.micro1.ai/data-partnerships)
- [Enterprise Data Partnership listing](https://www.micro1.ai/company-referral)
- [Delaware law](https://delcode.delaware.gov/title8/c001/sc10/index.html)