Updated October 2026
What your studio's critique threads are worth to AI buyers
Polyshares lists design and creative as an industry and names Figma, Adobe Creative Cloud and Canva among the systems it takes.1
A design or branding studio produces two kinds of files. Client deliverables are the logos, identity systems, packaging and sites you handed over. Around them sits the studio's own working record: creative briefs, mood boards, critique threads, rejected routes, version history in Figma, naming rounds, proposals and the retros you write once a launch is done. AI companies license copies of that working record, and in our reading it is worth something because it shows taste being argued for in writing, round after round.
Polyshares lists design and creative in its intake, with a design category covering Figma, Adobe Creative Cloud and Canva. Troveo's guide for agencies leaves client deliverables out of a first scope and puts proposals, project history, internal chat, playbooks and postmortems in it. Not every broker takes studios, though: VMS says marketing and creative agencies are not eligible right now.
Across buyers, published ranges mostly run $100K to $2M, as their own claims, and Troveo says a specialized firm with years of records can be worth more than a larger company with generic ones. Lead with briefs, critique, proposals and process docs, raise finished client artwork with the buyer, and take the quiz to see which buyers fit a studio your size.
Worth
What a studio's data may be worth
Set for a typical studio, 18 staff and 9 years of records. Move the sliders to match yours. Our estimate, not an offer.
Buyers
Which buyers want this data
Buyers whose own published rules fit design, branding and creative studios. We can introduce you to the ones we work with.
Featured partners
Polyshares
Lists design and creative as an industry, takes Figma, Adobe Creative Cloud and Canva alongside Slack and Drive, and excludes data held on behalf of clients.1,11
- $100K to $2M+, Polyshares says6
- None, Polyshares says12
- An offer in 1 to 2 weeks, then paid in 30 to 60 days13
Watch out for: Exclusive by default, and every deal it lists is exclusive with no end date.14,15
Mode
Takes Gmail, Drive, Slack and Notion and buys an agreed copy directly, with systems and dates fixed in writing before export.16,17
Watch out for: The program launched in October 2026 and has no deal record yet.20
Pewter
Lists agencies among the firms it takes from 20+ staff, and handles the valuation, the written offer and the export with your IT person.21,22
Watch out for: Its site was registered in October 2026 and names no people.25,26
Grepped
States no headcount minimum and reads only the sources you approve, so a 12-person studio can offer Slack and Notion and leave the client drive out.27,28
Watch out for: Its own site code calls its estimator "deliberately optimistic", so treat any estimate as an indication.29,30
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.
Troveo
Its agency guide puts proposals, project history, internal chat and postmortems in a first scope and keeps client deliverables out.31
- Six figures and up for a whole company, Troveo says32
- A share of the revenue; the percentage is not published33
Watch out for: You are paid from a revenue share, so ask what percentage you keep.33
Who wants this
Do buyers want design, branding and creative studios?
No buyer publishes prices by industry, but their own intake forms show which industries they rate higher.
- Troveo puts marketing, media or creative agency in its third of four demand tiers: "Standard buyer demand for your industry."34
- Polyshares takes design and creative, without marking it premium.35
- VMS, a broker, is not taking marketing or creative agency right now.8
Which buyers take a studio your size
Shown for 18 staff, a typical studio. Ask whether contractors and part-time staff count.
micro1
Polyshares
No headcount rule; the length and texture of the record matter more38
Mode
20+ full-time US office staff (accounting firms 10+, law firms 6+)39
Pewter
20+ staff and 3+ years; by industry, from 10+ (healthcare) to 50+ (manufacturing, finance)21,40,41
Grepped
No headcount minimum stated27
Ventra
30+ US employees and 3+ years of records42
Mercor
None stated43
Troveo
No minimum stated; its estimator starts at 2044
Nyne
20+ US W-2 employees and 3+ years45
Endless
Roughly 30+ employees46
Supersoniq
50+ employees and 5+ years47
What buyers value
What in a studio's records buyers value
What buyers look for in your records, and what to talk through with your buyer before anything leaves your systems.
| Data | Where it lives | Why a buyer values it | Raise with the buyer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Creative briefs and discovery notes | Notion, Google Docs | The problem as the client described it, next to the studio's rewrite of it. | Unreleased product names and client strategy. |
| Critique threads and design reviews | Slack, Figma comments, Loom | Why one route beat another, written by the people making the call. | Client staff names in shared channels. |
| Figma and Adobe version history | Figma, Adobe Creative Cloud | Dozens of iterations of one idea, timestamped and commented. | Final client artwork, licensed fonts and stock images. |
| Proposals, estimates and SOWs | Google Docs, HoneyBook, PandaDoc | How identity, web and packaging work gets scoped and priced, with wins and losses marked. | Client names and fees. |
| Brand guideline templates and process playbooks | Shared drive, Notion | The studio's method for running a branding engagement, written for new hires. | Nothing specific |
| Project retros and case study drafts | Google Docs, Asana | What went well, what slipped and what changed on the next job. | Nothing specific |
A week of records
A week of data at a studio
- Monday: kickoff notes from a rebrand are rewritten into a one-page brief the team signs off on.
- Tuesday: three logo routes go up in Figma and collect 40 comments from the creative director.
- Wednesday: the client picks route two, and the account lead writes up what has to change.
- Thursday: a packaging proposal goes out, priced from last year's estimate template.
- Friday: the retro on a website launch, with notes on what the next scope should include.
Process
How it works with each buyer
In each buyer's own words. Where a buyer publishes nothing, we say so.
Polyshares
Selling or closing
Selling or closing your studio? License its data first
If you are selling the studio, merging into a larger agency or stepping back, raise the working record with the buyer you're working with before closing, kept apart from client deliverables, and ask how a license would be shown to the acquirer. In our reading, briefs, critique and process docs are the part of a studio that shows how it thinks, and they rarely get their own line in a sale. Pewter takes firms that are downsizing, winding down or closed if the records still exist.2
FAQ
Design and branding studios: questions, answered
Every business is different, so this one is best talked through with the buyer you're working with. Their team goes over it with you before anything is signed.
Every business is different, so this one is best talked through with the buyer you're working with. Their team goes over it with you before anything is signed.
Before you sign
Questions to talk through with your buyer
Every business is different, so these are best talked through with the buyer you're working with. Their team goes over them with you before anything is signed.
Questions for this kind of business
- Which client agreements assign drafts, unused concepts or source files, and are those projects excluded?
- How are licensed fonts, stock photos and other third-party assets found and removed?
- Are Slack Connect channels shared with clients left out?
- Do customer, vendor or platform contracts, NDAs or API terms restrict this?
- Could the data include privileged material or trade secrets?
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?