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AI Data Payout

Updated October 2026

License your venture firm's data to AI buyers, and help portfolio companies do the same

Independent and sourced. We feature companies that pay us a referral fee. Our scores and reviews don't change for it. How we earn

SimpleClosure says founders and their investors can recover real value from leftover assets, and it has done 150+ data deals for wound-down startups.1,2

Two partners listening to a founder sketch on a whiteboard while an associate takes notes on a laptop angled away

A venture firm looks at thousands of companies to fund a few dozen, and it writes about most of them. Associates log every pitch in the CRM, write a screening note on the promising ones, and draft a memo for partner meeting; partners argue in the margins; the firm then spends years helping founders hire, price and raise. The pipeline history alone is a long record of judgment calls with outcomes the market eventually reveals.

Buyers describe that kind of record. Troveo's guide for funds lists investment memos, research notes, due diligence files and portfolio reviews. micro1 names financial services and lists playbooks and knowledge bases. Financial and investment analysts are a GDPval occupation.

A venture firm has a second reason to read this page: its portfolio. Startups that wind down are the best-documented sellers of company data today. SimpleClosure has done 150+ deals for wound-down startups and pitches its service to investors, and Turing's Project Lazarus licenses from winding-down companies too. Start with the firm's method, the part least tied to any one company (screening frameworks, memo templates, portfolio-support playbooks) and raise every founder, target and LP record with the licensing company.

US portfolio management firms with 10+ employees; venture firms are not counted separately

3,3204

US portfolio management firms with 10+ employees; venture firms are not counted separately

SimpleClosure data deals for wound-down startups

150+2

SimpleClosure data deals for wound-down startups

O*NET email score for financial managers

100/1005

O*NET email score for financial managers

Worth

What a firm's data may be worth

Pre-set for a typical firm: 20 staff and 10 years of records. No buyer publishes pricing by industry, so industry does not move the band. Our estimate, not a buyer quote.

Buyers

Which buyers want this data

Each reason is the buyer's own published statement about the tools, data or industries it takes, matched to how venture capital and growth equity firms work.

Featured partners

  1. #1 in our ranking

    7.7 out of 10

    micro1

    Names financial services and lists playbooks, knowledge bases and CRM metadata, which covers a firm's pipeline and portfolio-support library.10,11

    Typical payout
    $100K to $2M+, micro1 says6

    Watch out for: Says it removes personal details only "when relevant", so ask exactly how.12

Everyone else we reviewed

By score, with full reviews. We have no referral agreement with these companies, so we do not link out to them.

  1. #8 in our ranking

    6.1 out of 10

    SimpleClosure

    Pitches its wind-down service to investors and has done 150+ data deals for startups that closed, the route for a portfolio company that is shutting down.1,2

    Typical payout
    Usually $10K to $100K for a closed startup2

    Watch out for: Built for startups that are shutting down, so deals are smaller.2

  2. #9 in our ranking

    5.8 out of 10

    Troveo

    Its guide is written for funds and lists investment memos, research notes, due diligence files and portfolio reviews.13,14

    Typical payout
    Six figures and up for a whole company, Troveo says15
    Fees
    A share of the revenue; the percentage is not published16

    Watch out for: You are paid from a revenue share, so ask what percentage you keep.16

We feature buyers that pay us a referral fee. Our scores and reviews don't change for it. How we earn. No buyer publishes prices by industry, so within each group the order is the same as in our main ranking.

Buyer demand

How buyers' own tools rate venture capital and growth equity firms

No buyer publishes a price list by industry. These are settings inside buyers' and brokers' own estimators and intake forms, read from their public pages on 2026-10-14. They show how each company sorts industries, not what any firm was paid. The category shown is the one a firm would most likely pick; that match is ours.

How buyers' tools rate venture capital and growth equity firms
CompanyIts categoryHow it rates the industry
TroveoBuyerFinancial services, banking or fintechTier 1 of 4: "Buyers pay a premium for data from your industry." Price factor 1.3 in its estimator.17
PolysharesBuyerInvestment managementMarked premium in its intake list18
VMSBrokerFinanceHigher weight in its estimator (factor 1.30)19
VentraBrokerLegal, healthcare, financial services or accountingSays it cannot take these industries right now20

Size rules buyers publish

Checked against 20 staff, the typical firm size this page's calculator is set to. Ask each buyer whether contractors and part-time staff count.

  • PolysharesBuyer

    No headcount rule; the length and texture of the record matter more21

    No floor stated

  • MercorBuyer

    None stated22

    No floor stated

  • TroveoBuyer

    No minimum stated; its estimator starts at 2023

    No floor stated

  • NyneBuyer

    20+ US W-2 employees and 3+ years24

    Clears it at 20 staff

  • Handshake AIBuyer

    20+ full-time employees and 3+ years25

    Clears it at 20 staff

  • micro1Buyer

    30+ employees (its partnership page says 30 to 200)26,27

    Below it at 20 staff

  • PewterBroker

    20+ staff and 3+ years28

    Clears it at 20 staff

  • EndlessBroker

    Roughly 30+ employees29

    Below it at 20 staff

  • VentraBroker

    30+ US employees and 3+ years of records30

    Below it at 20 staff

  • SupersoniqBroker

    50+ employees and 5+ years31

    Below it at 20 staff

What buyers value

What in a firm's records buyers value

The column on the right is not legal advice: it lists what to raise with the buyer before anything is exported.

What in a firm's records buyers value
DataWhere it livesWhy a buyer values itRaise with the buyer
Pipeline history with pass reasonsAffinity, DealCloud or SalesforceEvery company the firm met, how far it got and why the firm passed, over many years.Founder names and company details on each record.
Screening frameworks and memo templatesNotion, Google DocsThe questions the firm asks of every company, written once and used thousands of times.Nothing specific
Partner meeting notes and investment memosDocs, emailThe argument for and against each investment, with the outcome known later.Company financials and data-room material quoted in each memo.
Portfolio-support playbooksNotion, shared driveHiring, pricing, board and fundraising guides the platform team wrote for founders.Nothing specific
Internal Slack and partnership emailSlack, GmailHow the partnership debates, divides work and decides quickly.Threads that discuss a named company or LP.
LP reporting templatesFund admin portal, slide decksHow the firm explains performance and portfolio changes to its investors.LP names and commitments.

A week of records

A week of data at a firm

  • Monday: 70 inbound decks logged in the CRM; associates write screening notes on nine.
  • Tuesday: partner meeting debates two memos; one moves to diligence, one is passed with a written reason.
  • Wednesday: the platform team updates its first-sales-hire guide after three founders asked the same question.
  • Thursday: a portfolio company tells the board it will wind down; the partner forwards SimpleClosure's investor page.
  • Friday: quarterly LP letter drafted from the standard template.

Process

How it works with each buyer

In each buyer's own published words. Where a buyer publishes nothing, we say so rather than guess.

micro1

What it buys
Internal docs, SOPs and playbooks, knowledge bases, project management workflows, internal comms, templates, CRM and workflow metadata, task histories11
Who qualifies
30 to 200 employees27
Offer range
$100K-$2M+ per data package; over $1M for unique data6
Personal data
PII removed "when relevant"12
Ownership
The company keeps ownership of its data and reviews samples before release32
Time to payment
Not published

SimpleClosure

Who it serves
150+ data deals for wound-down startups, typically $10K-$100K each2
What is in scope
Sensitive employee and health records are excluded; code, Slack, email and docs are in scope33

Troveo

Deal structure
Licensing, not sale, on a revenue share (percentage not published)16
First step
Free value assessment, then scoping34

Selling or closing

Selling or closing your firm? License its data first

Venture firms rarely sell themselves, but funds end, partnerships split and portfolio companies close all the time. For a closing portfolio company, wind-down services already run data sales: SimpleClosure has done 150+ deals, typically $10K-$100K each, and Mercor approached Warmly about its archives after HubSpot acquired it. For the firm itself, ask each licensing company whether its screening and portfolio-support method can be licensed when a fund winds down, separately from company and LP records.2,3

FAQ

Venture capital and growth equity: questions, answered

  • Troveo's guide is written for funds and advisory firms and lists investment memos, research notes, diligence files and portfolio reviews. micro1 names financial services. Financial and investment analysts are one of the GDPval occupations.13,14,10,35

  • Closed startups are the most proven sellers. SimpleClosure has done 150+ data deals for wound-down startups, typically $10K-$100K each, and pitches its service to investors. Turing's Project Lazarus licenses code, tickets and communications from winding-down companies.2,1,36

  • SimpleClosure reports typical deals of $10K-$100K. MIT Technology Review reported a crypto startup getting about $25,000 for its code base, with about $15,000 for workspace data pending. Turing says Project Lazarus pays up to $1M in one payment, its own figure.2,9,36

  • Screening frameworks, memo templates, portfolio-support playbooks and the pipeline's structure. micro1 lists playbooks, templates and CRM metadata. Founder details and memos about named companies are the part to raise with the buyer.11

  • For most buyers, yes: micro1 asks for 30+ employees, and Nyne and Goldmined.ai for 20+. Troveo and Jottings state no headcount minimum and Polyshares asks only for real operating history, so those are the places to test interest.26,24,37,23,38,39

  • Client identities and account details, vendor-licensed market data, deal materials received under a confidentiality agreement, non-public information about public companies, regulator-confidential material and credentials. Use it as the outline for your own exclusions, and confirm it with whoever you speak to.40

  • We do not answer legal questions. Ask the licensing company: their team reviews this with you before anything is signed.

  • We do not answer legal questions. Ask the licensing company: their team reviews this with you before anything is signed.

  • We do not answer legal questions. Ask the licensing company: their team reviews this with you before anything is signed.

Before you sign

We do not answer legal questions. Ask the licensing company before you sign: their team reviews these with you.

Questions for this kind of business

  • How are founder, company and LP details removed from memos and pipeline records?
  • Do side letters or portfolio company agreements limit use of information we received?
  • For a closing portfolio company, who has authority to approve a data sale and who is paid?
  • Who owns this data: the company, an estate, or someone else?
  • Do customer, vendor or platform contracts, NDAs or API terms restrict this?
  • What are the trustee's, assignee's, receiver's or board's duties, and who receives the proceeds?

Questions for any buyer

  • Is the license exclusive, and for how long?
  • Can you sublicense the data, and to whom?
  • Which AI labs will receive it, and will you tell us?
  • How long do you keep it, and how is it deleted?
  • What is your liability cap, and who indemnifies whom?
  • Will the contract ban re-identification of people in the data?
  • Who removes personal data, by what method, and do we approve it first?

Proof

Deals in this kind of business

  • SimpleClosure, a wind-down service, reports 150+ data deals for startups that shut down, typically $10K-$100K each. MIT Technology Review reported a crypto startup receiving about $25,000 for its code base, with about $15,000 for workspace data pending.2,9

How this page was made

Every figure comes from a published source listed below, each with the date we checked it. Buyer statements are the buyer's own claims and are marked so in the source list. Firm counts come from the US Census Bureau's Statistics of US Businesses. Anything marked as our estimate is ours, not a buyer quote.

Drafted with AI assistance from our research files, then checked against each source. Reviewed 14 Oct 2026. Last updated 14 Oct 2026.

We feature companies that pay us a referral fee. Our scores and reviews don't change for it. See how we earn and how we rank. This site does not give legal, tax or financial advice.

Sources (40)

  1. 1.SimpleClosure Asset Hub announcement, published 16 Apr 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  2. 2.Forbes, published 16 Apr 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  3. 3.AI Weekly, summarising The Information, published 15 Aug 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  4. 4.US Census Bureau, Statistics of US Businesses 2022. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  5. 5.O*NET OnLine, E-Mail work context. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  6. 6.micro1 company referral page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  7. 7.Polyshares website. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  8. 8.Bloomberg Law, published 17 Aug 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  9. 9.MIT Technology Review, published 13 Oct 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  10. 10.micro1 Enterprise Data Partnership page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  11. 11.micro1 Enterprise Data Partnership page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  12. 12.beri.net, published 10 Oct 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  13. 13.Troveo, financial firm data licensing guide, published 11 Oct 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  14. 14.Troveo, financial firm data licensing guide, published 11 Oct 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  15. 15.Troveo business data page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  16. 16.Troveo, published 11 Sep 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  17. 17.Troveo business data assessment. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  18. 18.Polyshares intake catalog. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  19. 19.VMS data licensing page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  20. 20.Ventra partners page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  21. 21.Polyshares. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  22. 22.Mercor Data. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  23. 23.Troveo business data page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  24. 24.Nyne sell-company-data page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  25. 25.Handshake AI data partnerships referral page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  26. 26.micro1 company referral page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  27. 27.micro1 Enterprise Data Partnership page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  28. 28.Pewter website. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  29. 29.Endless website. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  30. 30.Meta Ad Library, Ventra page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  31. 31.Supersoniq website. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  32. 32.beri.net, published 10 Oct 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  33. 33.SimpleClosure press release (Business Wire), published 3 Sep 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  34. 34.Troveo, published 11 Sep 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  35. 35.OpenAI, GDPval paper. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  36. 36.Turing Project Lazarus page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  37. 37.Goldmined.ai check page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  38. 38.Jottings FAQ. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  39. 39.Polyshares website. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  40. 40.Troveo, financial firm data licensing guide, published 11 Oct 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.