Closed startups have usually been paid $10,000 to $100,000 for a copy of their Slack, email, files, tickets and code, across about 100 deals reported by shutdown service SimpleClosure (Forbes via Fast Company, April 2026). Some got more, such as Cielo24, a transcription company that closed after 13 years and received "hundreds of thousands of dollars" (Fast Company, April 2026; Fortune, September 2026). The key is timing: keep every account paid and sign the sale while someone still has authority to do it.
On this page
- Why do AI labs want data from dead startups?
- What have closed startups been paid?
- When in the shutdown should I sell the data?
- Who can sign in a dissolution, an ABC or a bankruptcy?
- Who buys closed startups' data?
- What should I keep before wiping servers?
- What about former employees' messages?
- Questions
- Sources
Why do AI labs want data from dead startups?
A closed company's record is complete, and nobody needs it anymore. It shows how a team built a product, argued about decisions, handled customers and shipped code, over years. SimpleClosure's buyers include foundation AI labs, companies that build simulated workplaces for training AI agents, and established tech companies building their own models (MIT Technology Review, October 2026).
Variety matters more than volume. Nick Heiner of Surge AI told the same outlet that one company's Slack history, if it has variety and depth, can be worth more than another company's Slack, email and calendars combined.
What have closed startups been paid?
| Company | What was sold | Amount | Kind of figure | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| About 100 shut-down startups | Slack, email, documents, code | $10,000 to $100,000 each | Broker's figure | SimpleClosure to Forbes, via Fast Company, April 2026 |
| Cielo24, transcription company closed after 13 years | Slack, email, Jira tickets and Google Drive files | "Hundreds of thousands of dollars" | Seller's account | Fast Company, April 2026; Fortune, September 2026 |
| Crypto startup, about 2.5 years old | Codebase, then Google, Notion, Figma and Slack data | About $25,000 for code; about $15,000 pending for workspace data | Press report | MIT Technology Review, October 2026 |
| Five to ten failed startups | Codebases | Tens of thousands of dollars each on average | Buyer's CEO | Turing's CEO to The Information, via Fortune, September 2026 |
| Spirit Airlines, bankrupt, about 17,000 jobs lost | 100 million emails, 500 million Teams messages, code | $10 million winning auction bid, not yet approved | Court filing, press report | Axios, August 2026; The Next Web, August 2026 |
Offers are not the same as sales. A software startup that had just agreed to be acquired, so not a closed company, received four offers of up to $300,000 for its codebase and employee communications, and its CEO turned them all down (The Information via fnnews, August 2026).
SimpleClosure's marketplace has handled over 150 deals, expects to return over $10 million to startups by the end of 2026, and says 47% of its deals now include code or data (MIT Technology Review, October 2026). It also said the number of AI buyers grew ninefold compared with 2025 (SimpleClosure, September 2026). More reported deals are in our deal ledger.
When in the shutdown should I sell the data?
As early as you can, and always before deleting anything. A typical order:
- Decide to wind down. Tell the board you want to include data and code in the asset sale.
- Freeze deletion. Keep paying for Slack, Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, GitHub and your ticketing tools until a buyer has sampled. Slack deletes messages and files older than one year from free workspaces (Slack, 2024), and a workspace that drops to the free plan is subject to that rule.
- Inventory. Write down peak headcount, years active, and every tool the work lived in. Buyers ask about peak headcount, not just the team at the end (aitrainer.work, October 2026).
- Get offers. Ask more than one buyer. MIT Technology Review (October 2026) noted founders have little visibility into who buys or whether an offer is fair.
- Sign while you can. The person or body that controls the assets must sign. Once the company is dissolved or handed to an assignee or trustee, the decision may no longer be yours.
- Then dissolve, pay creditors, and wipe devices after delivery and confirmation.
Who can sign in a dissolution, an ABC or a bankruptcy?
It depends on how the company closes and where it is incorporated. This is general information, not legal advice, so check with whoever runs the wind-down before you list anything:
- Board-led dissolution. The board generally approves asset sales as part of winding up. Creditors are generally paid before shareholders.
- Assignment for the benefit of creditors (ABC). The assignee generally controls the assets, including data, and runs the sale.
- Bankruptcy. The company or a trustee sells under court supervision. In the Spirit Airlines case, Google won the August 2026 auction with a $10 million bid, with Mercor next at $7.5 million (Axios and The Next Web, August 2026). A court-appointed consumer privacy ombudsman recommended approval after passenger databases were excluded (Business Insider, October 2026). The hearing was then moved from October 14 to November 6, 2026, as more than 120 members of Congress raised employee privacy concerns (TravelPulse, October 2026). The sale is not final as of October 29, 2026.
MIT Technology Review (October 2026) reported that proceeds typically go to senior creditors and investors, not employees. Co-founders, investors and a liquidator may also have a say (aitrainer.work, October 2026).
Who buys closed startups' data?
Sorted by name. Data Licensors, the company that publishes this page, also licenses company records.
| Buyer | What they take from closing companies |
|---|---|
| AfterQuery | Says operating, winding-down and closed companies are all welcome (AfterQuery) |
| aitrainer.work | Points closed companies to buyers; says it never sees or holds the data (aitrainer.work) |
| Data Licensors | De-identified copies of records from companies with 20 to 500 staff; no separate program for closed companies |
| Labelbox | One-time purchase of fully defunct startup codebases (Labelbox, January 2026) |
| Mercor | Offered to buy or license a just-acquired startup's code and task records (The Information via AI Weekly, August 2026) |
| micro1 | A program for companies that have stopped operating, with 25+ staff at peak and Slack or Teams history (aitrainer.work, October 2026) |
| SimpleClosure | Shutdown service with a marketplace for code and workspace data |
| Turing | Codebases and full operating records from operating, winding-down and closed companies; its page says up to $1 million in one payment (Turing, October 2026) |
MIT Technology Review also names Sunset, another shutdown service, as running a growing data resale business. See who runs data partnership programs for buyers of live companies' records.
What should I keep before wiping servers?
- Slack or Teams workspaces, on a plan that keeps the full history.
- Email accounts in Google Workspace or Microsoft 365. Do not delete users until they are exported.
- Shared drives, Notion or Confluence, Figma.
- Jira, Linear or Asana projects with full history.
- GitHub or GitLab organizations with commits, pull requests and issues. Code with its history is worth more than code alone; see selling a startup codebase.
- CRM and support tools, such as HubSpot, Salesforce, Zendesk or Intercom.
- A list of what is off-limits: customer data under contract, HR and payroll, health information, and anything privileged.
If accounts are already gone, ask the vendor's support whether a workspace can be restored, and check founders' laptops for repositories and old exports (aitrainer.work, October 2026).
What about former employees' messages?
This is the sensitive part. Former staff did not write those messages expecting a sale. Buyers say they remove names and personal details before training, and SimpleClosure says sensitive employee and health records are not sold (SimpleClosure, September 2026). Still, leave out private channels and direct messages unless a policy covers them, exclude HR files, and consider telling former employees. Our legal guide covers consent and privacy law, and how de-identification works explains what is removed.
