Skip to content
AI Data Payout

Selling data

Closing your company? Your Slack archive might be worth money

If you are closing a company, its Slack archive may be worth money. AI buyers want real team conversations to train AI agents, and Slack is where most startups talked. Closed startups typically get $10K-$100K a deal through SimpleClosure. Keep paying for Slack until you have an answer, because a deleted workspace has nothing left to sell.1,2,3,4,5

By Lead analyst (to be named) · reviewed by Reviewing editor (to be named) · published 14 Oct 2026 · updated 18 Oct 2026

Why buyers want your old Slack

Slack is where a team argues, decides and fixes things in writing. That is exactly what AI companies need to teach agents real work. Surge AI says one company's Slack with enough variety and depth can be worth more than another company's Slack, email and calendars combined.2

It is also everywhere. SimpleClosure found Slack in 95% of the closing startups' workspaces it evaluated. Mercor has gone after shut-down startups' Slack and Jira archives directly.3,1

What closed companies have been paid

Cielo24 sold 13 years of Slack, Jira and email for what was reported as hundreds of thousands of dollars.6

More typical: SimpleClosure has done over 150 data deals, usually $10K-$100K each. One closed crypto startup got about $25,000 for its code, then offered its Google, Notion, Figma and Slack workspace data, with about $15,000 more pending.4,7,8

Ads promise more. micro1's closed-company ads say a previous company's data could be worth up to $2M, for companies that had 25+ staff at their peak. That is a ceiling, not an average.9

Three things to do before you cancel Slack

Shutting down moves fast, and the archive is easy to lose in the rush. SimpleClosure says asset value erodes quickly during a shutdown, so it advises starting the inventory and buyer outreach alongside the dissolution paperwork.10

  1. Keep paying. Slack, Google Workspace and GitHub accounts get deleted after non-payment. Keep them live until a buyer has looked at a sample.5
  2. Find out who can sign. Once a company is closing, the person who can agree a sale may be a liquidator, administrator or board, not the founder. Ask whoever handled the dissolution before you list anything.11
  3. Check the export rules. Slack's API terms, in force since May 2025, restrict bulk export and use for training large language models. Ask the buyer how it handles that before you agree a method.12

Who buys a closed company's Slack

SimpleClosure says its Asset Hub sells workspace data for startups it is closing, at no cost to them. Sunset buys a wound-down company's dataset outright and licenses it on. Turing's Project Lazarus says it pays up to $1M in one payment for operating records from closing companies.13,14,15

Some brokers have closed-company tracks with Slack in mind. License My Data takes closed companies with 50+ staff at their peak and substantial Slack or Teams history. AI Input asks for 50+ at peak and Slack or Teams history in English.16,17

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Money from an archive that would otherwise be deleted.4,5
  • Slack is in almost every startup's stack: 95% of the workspaces SimpleClosure evaluated.3,1
  • SimpleClosure's channel costs closing customers nothing.13

Cons

  • Closed companies get far less than operating ones: typically $10K-$100K.4,18
  • Slack's API terms restrict bulk export for AI training.12
  • The money usually goes to senior creditors and investors, not the people who wrote the messages.19
  • Former staff may not welcome their messages being sold.20

What it means for a business like yours

Say you are winding down a 40-person software agency after six years. Your Slack holds every client handover, bug fight and late-night fix. Before the last invoice from Slack comes due, keep the plan active for a few more months. The cost is small next to even a modest data deal.5,4

Then talk to two channels, not one. A wind-down service like SimpleClosure or Sunset, and a buyer with a closed-company track like Project Lazarus. Ask each for a number before you hand over an export.14,21,22

Should your business get in now?

Businesses are already licensing their records: micro1 has committed $1B over 12 months to buying company data, and at least 18 firms started advertising for it between September and mid-October 2026.23,24 Our view, not a promise: the money will not be around forever, because prices tend to come down as more businesses sell.23,25 Take the quiz to see which firms fit your business.

Plus a free Seller's Guide when you finish.

Take the quizWho the brokerages are

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

FAQ

Questions, answered with sources

  • A closed company's Slack can be worth money. Closed startups typically get $10K-$100K a deal through SimpleClosure, and Cielo24 sold Slack, Jira and email for a reported few hundred thousand dollars.4,6

  • SimpleClosure's Asset Hub, Sunset and Turing's Project Lazarus, plus brokers such as License My Data. Mercor has pursued shut-down startups' Slack archives directly.26,14,21,16,1

  • Not until a buyer has sampled the data. Lapsed Slack, Google Workspace and GitHub accounts get deleted, and value erodes quickly during a shutdown.5,10

  • The employee minimum depends on the buyer and is counted at your peak: micro1's ads name 25+, while License My Data and AI Input name 50+.9,16,17

  • Slack's API terms, effective 2025-05-29, restrict bulk export and using the data to train large language models. Ask the buyer how its method deals with that.12

  • MIT Technology Review reports proceeds typically go to senior creditors and investors, not employees.19

  • 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

  • Who signs for the company now, and who receives the proceeds?
  • Who owns this data: the company, an estate, or someone else?
  • How are employee data, union contracts and NLRA questions handled?
  • 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?

How this page was made: drafted with AI help from the sources below, each checked; a buyer's claims about itself are its own. Updated October 2026. How we rank.

Sources (26)

  1. 1.AI Weekly, summarising The Information, published 15 Aug 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  2. 2.MIT Technology Review, published 13 Oct 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  3. 3.SimpleClosure, What Your Assets Are Worth, published 3 Sep 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  4. 4.Forbes, published 16 Apr 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  5. 5.aitrainer.work, closed company page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  6. 6.AI Weekly, summarising Forbes (16 Apr 2026). Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  7. 7.MIT Technology Review, published 13 Oct 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  8. 8.MIT Technology Review, published 13 Oct 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  9. 9.Meta Ad Library, micro1, published 9 Oct 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  10. 10.SimpleClosure, How to Sell Your Startup's Assets Before You Close, published 14 Apr 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  11. 11.aitrainer.work, closed company page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  12. 12.Hunton Andrews Kurth, published 5 Aug 2025. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  13. 13.SimpleClosure press release (Business Wire, via 01net), published 3 Sep 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  14. 14.Sunset blog, published 14 Apr 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  15. 15.Turing Project Lazarus page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  16. 16.License My Data website. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  17. 17.AI Input closed-company page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  18. 18.micro1 company referral page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  19. 19.MIT Technology Review, published 13 Oct 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  20. 20.Slashdot discussion, published 18 Apr 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  21. 21.Turing Project Lazarus page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  22. 22.SimpleClosure, How Real Are Those Million-Dollar Data Offers?, published 1 Oct 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  23. 23.The Next Web, published 9 Oct 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  24. 24.Meta Ad Library (our review). Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  25. 25.TechCrunch, published 16 Sep 2025. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  26. 26.SimpleClosure press release (Business Wire, via 01net), published 3 Sep 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.