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Closed your business? Its old records might still pay

The doors are shut, yet a backup may still hold the inboxes, shared files and books. Where those exist and the team was big enough at its height, certain buyers will still pay for a copy.

AI Data Offers research deskChecked against our methodology Updated October 28, 2026 2 min read 7 sources
Typical deals
$10K to $100K
Wind-down deals done
150+
Peak size asked
Often 20+ staff
Records needed
3+ years

01

Ads aimed at former owners

On 9 October 2026 micro1 began running a campaign for owners of companies that no longer operate, headlined with a ceiling of up to $2M for US companies. That ceiling is micro1's own top-of-band figure.

Pewter will consider businesses that are closing or have closed, provided headcount once reached 20 full-timers and a three-year record trail still exists. Certain brokers go lower.

02

What closed companies have actually received

150+

data deals closed by SimpleClosure for wound-down startups

MIT Technology Review

$10K to $100K

typical price per deal in that market

Forbes

Hundreds of thousands

reported for deep archives, for example Cielo24's 13 years across Slack, Jira and email

Forbes

Most of those sellers were tech startups whose work lived in Slack, Jira and Google Workspace. Closed print shops, distributors and contractors are newer to this, so take the top figure in any ad with a pinch of salt.

03

Do the records still exist?

Before anything else, check what survived. Cancelled cloud subscriptions often delete data after a grace period. Old servers, backup drives and exported archives may still hold mailboxes and shared drives.

Closed-company deals usually cover code, chat, email and documents. Sensitive employee and health records are normally excluded, and you should expect any buyer to draw that line.

04

Who can sign for a dissolved company

Ownership of a dissolved company's assets depends on how it was wound down, what the dissolution documents say and the law where it was registered. Former directors, shareholders, a trustee or an estate may hold the right to license. This is a question for your lawyer before you approach a buyer.

FAQ

Questions, answered

We have shut down. Is our data still licensable?

For certain buyers, yes, provided the records still exist and the team was large enough at its height.

What do closed companies get for their records?

Shut-down startups have mostly been paid $10K to $100K on record, and a few very long archives went into six figures. A $2M ceiling in an ad is just what the advertiser says.

How big must the company have been?

Pewter asks for 20 or more full-time staff at peak. Other buyers vary, and some set lower floors.

Are employee records included?

Usually not. HR, personnel and health records are normally left out.

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Sources

Every number on this page links back to one of these.

  1. 1micro1, company referral program pagemicro1.ai
  2. 2Pewter, company websitepewterdata.com
  3. 3MIT Technology Review, AI labs buying data from dead startupstechnologyreview.com
  4. 4Forbes, AI's new training data: your old work Slacks and emailsforbes.com
  5. 501net, SimpleClosure AssetHub on track to return $10M to startups01net.it
  6. 6AI Weekly, Mercor chases shuttered startups' Slack and Jira archivesaiweekly.co
  7. 7Meta Ad Libraryfacebook.com

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