Who buys data from closing companies?
Foundation AI labs, vendors that build simulated workplaces to train AI agents, and large tech companies training their own models all buy archives from shut-down companies (MIT Technology Review). Intermediaries such as SimpleClosure AssetHub and Sunset broker the sales, often as part of winding the company down.
What sells
- Chat history. Slack or Teams workspaces where real decisions were discussed.
- Email. Years of internal and external correspondence, de-identified.
- Code. Repositories with commit, review and issue history.
- Project tools. Tickets, specs and docs in Jira, Notion, Google Workspace or Figma.
- Operating records. Finance, support and operations records that show how work was done.
What it sells for
| Deal | Reported value |
|---|---|
| Small crypto startup’s code (2026) | About $25,000, plus roughly $15,000 expected for workspace data |
| Spirit Airlines’ records → Google (2026) | $10M winning bid |
| SimpleClosure, all sellers (2026) | Expects to return more than $10M to startups by year end |
Source: MIT Technology Review, October 2026. Prices vary widely between buyers, so get more than one offer.
What to check before you sell
- Who can sell. The records belong to the company. The board, or a liquidator or bankruptcy trustee, must approve the sale.
- Customer contracts. Confidentiality terms can exclude customer data or require consent.
- Employee privacy. Messages contain personal data; remove or de-identify it, and check GDPR if you had EU or UK staff.
- Third-party code. Open-source and licensed code keeps its own licence terms.
- What happens to the rest. Agree how data you don’t sell will be deleted.
Sell before you delete
Archives are worth most while accounts are still active and the people who can export them are still around. Start before you cancel software subscriptions or delete workspaces. Calto Data’s free check takes two minutes and doesn’t ask for any files.
Frequently asked questions
Can founders sell company data personally?
No. The records belong to the company, so the company, or its liquidator or bankruptcy trustee, must authorise any sale, usually with board approval.
Do we need employees’ consent?
Not always, but you need a lawful basis and must remove or de-identify personal information. GDPR applies to messages from EU and UK staff. Take legal advice.
Should a closing company sell or license its data?
Usually sell or grant a perpetual licence, because the company won’t exist to enforce terms later. Make sure the deal covers deletion of anything not transferred.