Closing your company
Shutting down? Check what your company's records could fetch before they go
The company is winding up, but its Slack, email, drives and code repositories stay live for a few more weeks. AI buyers now license copies of exactly this kind of record from businesses that have closed.
SimpleClosure alone reports 150+ such deals, typically $10K to $100K each. The catch: once the accounts are cancelled, the data is usually gone.
- Typical deal
- $10K to $100K
- Wind-down data deals
- 150+
- Lowest size floor
- 20 staff at peak
- Owner's time
- About 1 hour (Pewter)
01
What a closing company can sell
What buyers are after is the day-to-day trail of work: Slack, email, documents, tickets and code. SimpleClosure accepts all of it but keeps sensitive HR and health files out. cielo24 licensed 13 years of Slack, Jira and email, with the price reported in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Archive size grows with the company: Spirit Airlines had roughly 100M emails. Yours will be far smaller and so will the payment, yet buyers want the same type of material.
02
Do this before you cancel anything
- 1
Keep accounts paid
If the bills stop, Slack, Google Workspace and GitHub delete the data. See keeping a workspace alive.
- 2
Write down your peak
Buyers count staff at your peak, not today. See peak headcount.
- 3
List the systems
Which tools, which years, roughly how many users.
- 4
Get two offers
Compare a shutdown service with a direct buyer. See SimpleClosure alternatives.
03
Who buys from closing companies
Takes closed companies?
Yes, any status
Size rule
US company, 3+ years of records, 20+ full-timers today or at the high point
Takes closed companies?
Yes, via closed-company ads
Size rule
25+ employees at peak, US
Takes closed companies?
Yes
Size rule
50+ staff at peak
Takes closed companies?
Yes, per its ads
Size rule
50+ employees
Takes closed companies?
Yes, as part of a shutdown
Size rule
No published floor
| Buyer | Takes closed companies? | Size rule |
|---|---|---|
| Pewter | Yes, any status | US company, 3+ years of records, 20+ full-timers today or at the high point |
| micro1 | Yes, via closed-company ads | 25+ employees at peak, US |
| License My Data | Yes | 50+ staff at peak |
| Data Specialists | Yes, per its ads | 50+ employees |
| SimpleClosure, Sunset | Yes, as part of a shutdown | No published floor |
Mercor has also gone after Slack and Jira history from startups that closed. See AI data buyers for distressed companies.
04
Guides for closing companies
- Before shutdown: winding-down checklist, keep the workspace alive, how long to keep records, disposing of old records
- Value: what dead-company data sells for, million-dollar offers, peak headcount
- Assets: selling the codebase, failed startup assets, shutting down a startup
- Buyers: SimpleClosure alternatives, your previous company's data
- Investors: portfolio wind-downs for VCs
- In court: bankruptcy data sales
FAQ
Questions, answered
Can I sell my closing company's Slack and email?
Often yes, if the company owns the accounts and no contract or privacy rule blocks it. Buyers take copies with personal details removed.
What will I get?
Most wind-down data deals run $10K to $100K, according to SimpleClosure. Long histories and bigger teams fetch more.
My company has no staff left. Do I qualify?
Buyers that take closed companies count your peak headcount, starting from 20 people for Pewter.
Do I have to use a shutdown service?
No. Some direct buyers and brokers take closed companies without running the rest of the wind-down.
Find the buyers that fit your company
Answer a few questions about your size, tools and history. We show which buyers want a company like yours. Free, no files.
Keep reading
Sources
Every number on this page links back to one of these.
- 1SimpleClosure: AssetHubsimpleclosure.com
- 2SimpleClosure: what your startup's assets are worthsimpleclosure.com
- 3MIT Technology Review: AI labs are buying data from dead startups (13 Oct 2026)technologyreview.com
- 4Forbes: AI's new training data is your old work Slacks and emails (16 Apr 2026)forbes.com
- 5AI Weekly: Mercor chases shuttered startups' Slack and Jira archivesaiweekly.co
- 6Pewter Datapewterdata.com
- 7License My Datalicensemydata.com
- 8micro1: company referral programmicro1.ai
- 9Chapter11Cases (Stretto): docket report on the Spirit Airlines de-identified data salechapter11cases.com
- 1001net: SimpleClosure AssetHub on track to return $10M to venture-backed startups01net.it
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