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How to sell your company's data to AI companies

You sell company data to AI companies by licensing a copy of your email, chat, files and CRM history. Check that you qualify, get a quote, review a cleaned sample, sign a written offer and hand over the records. Most offers take days to two weeks, and payment usually lands 3-6 weeks after signing.1,2,3,4,5,6

By Brandon Kuipers, founder and editor · published · updated

What you're actually selling

You license a copy, not the originals. The buyer gets your records with names and contact details stripped out, uses them to train AI, and your company keeps ownership of the data.1,7,2

Buyers want the records of real work: internal docs, SOPs, chat, CRM history and task histories. Most want at least 20 to 30 full-time staff and 3 or more years of records, mostly in English. Smaller firms can fit when the records are rare, like CAD, engineering, code or game files.8,9,10,11,12,13

How to sell your company's data, step by step

Seven steps take you from a first form to the money, and only the export asks for real work from your team.14,15

  1. Check you qualify. Look for a buyer whose size, years and region rules fit you, and an owner or C-suite exec who can sign for data the company owns.11,9,10
  2. List what you have. One page with your systems, the years each covers and roughly how much is in it is enough, and one buyer puts it at 1-3 hours.15
  3. Get a quote. A short form gets you a call and a range, often within a business day, not an offer. Our quiz shows which of the buyers we work with fit you.14
  4. Review a cleaned sample. The buyer checks a slice of your records, and you see them with names swapped for placeholders before anything else moves.2,1
  5. Sign a written offer. Put what stays out in writing, such as folders, client names and sales to competitors, and ask how long the price holds while the buyer reviews.16,17,18,19
  6. Hand over the records. Some buyers have your staff sign in to approved systems, others take read-only access or ask you to send files. Frankfurt Kurnit, a law firm, advises giving no direct system access.7,20,21,22
  7. Get paid, then confirm deletion. Some buyers pay only once they accept the data. Ask for written confirmation when the raw files are deleted.23,24,25

How long it takes, and when you're paid

Most buyers make an offer within days to two weeks and pay about 3-6 weeks after signing, sometimes longer. Each buyer sets its own clock, so get the payment date in writing before you sign.3,4,5,6,26

How fast each buyer says it moves, in its own words
BuyerTime to an offerWhen you're paid
Ventra3-7 days3Usually net 30 or 60 after signing26
micro14-6 weeks to a signed deal, per a third-party write-up27Within 30 days of accepting the data28
Polyshares1-2 weeks after intake4Net 30-60 after approval4
ModeA 14-day letter of intent while it reviews19About three months from the first conversation29
MercorNot statedWire on delivery, typically 2-4 weeks after signing6
Labelbox Prism1-3 days to scope, 5-10 days to license30Under 21 days from first call to first wire, its own figure31
Patronus AIFirst answer in 2 business days32On acceptance, after up to 30 days of review32
CollinearAbout a week from first call to signature33After it confirms delivery33

What it pays

Buyers publish ranges from about $10K for small datasets to $3M+ for large or rare ones, and for firms of 20 to 100 people most bands run from tens of thousands to a few hundred thousand dollars.34,35,36,37

Headcount and years of records move the price most, then how rare the data is. The money is a license fee, with no equity or debt, and most buyers charge the seller nothing.37,35,38,39,40,41

Three terms to read before you sign

Read how long the license lasts, whether it is exclusive, and whether the buyer can pass the data on. micro1's license, for one, is perpetual, irrevocable and sublicensable, and trained models are not deleted.25,42,43

Selling the business within a year? Settle the data license with your M&A advisor first, because the company buying yours will ask for the paperwork in due diligence.44

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Money for records you already pay to store.34,35,36,37,45
  • Your company keeps ownership, and the buyer gets a cleaned copy.1,2
  • A few hours of the owner's time, and no fee for most sellers.14,39,40

Cons

  • Many licenses are permanent and can't be taken back.25
  • You often can't see which AI lab ends up with the records.46
  • A future acquirer will ask to see the deal.44

What it means for a business like yours

The usual fit is a business with 20 or more desk staff and 3 or more years of email, chat, files and CRM history. A smaller firm with a CAD, code or game archive can fit too, and our quiz checks your answers against each buyer's published rules.9,11,12,13

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 2026.47,48 Our view, not a promise: the money will not be around forever, because prices tend to come down as more businesses sell.47,49 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 company with at least 20 to 30 full-time staff and 3 or more years of records meets most buyers' published minimums. You license a copy, and the company keeps ownership of its data.9,10,11,1

  • Fill in a buyer's short form for a quote, then send a one-page list of your systems and years. After a cleaned sample and a written offer, you hand over the records and invoice.14,15,2,23

  • Most offers come within days to two weeks. Payment usually follows 3-6 weeks after signing, and later when a buyer pays only once it accepts the data.3,4,6,23

  • Buyers publish ranges from about $10K for small datasets to $3M+ for large or rare ones, and for firms of 20 to 100 people most bands run from tens of thousands to a few hundred thousand dollars.34,35,36,37

  • Email, file storage, chat, CRM and accounting records are the core, plus SOPs, task histories and code. CAD, engineering, video game and creative files are also in demand.50,8,12

  • A broker is optional. Some buyers license the data and pay you directly, while a broker shops your records to several labs and shows you the best offer.51,52

  • Filling in a form commits you to nothing. You see the offer and its terms first, and you decide whether to go ahead.52

  • 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 owns this data: the company, an estate, or someone else?
  • How do CCPA, GDPR, UK GDPR and state privacy laws apply, and is de-identified data still personal information?
  • Do customer, supplier or platform contracts, NDAs or API terms restrict this?

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 . How we rank.

Sources (52)

  1. 1.beri.net, published 10 Oct 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  2. 2.Pewter website. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  3. 3.Ventra company data page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  4. 4.Polyshares website. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  5. 5.Cognor Labs manufacturing page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  6. 6.Mercor Data page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  7. 7.Mode company data site. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  8. 8.micro1 Enterprise Data Partnership page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  9. 9.Pewter website. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  10. 10.micro1 data partnerships page. Accessed 30 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  11. 11.Ventra fit criteria sent to AI Data Payout (2026-10-15), not published, published 15 Oct 2026. Accessed 15 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  12. 12.Ventra partner update to AI Data Payout (2026-11-04), not published, published 4 Nov 2026. Accessed 5 Nov 2026. Company's own claim.
  13. 13.Polyshares broker portal, market criteria update (2026-10-22), published 22 Oct 2026. Accessed 22 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  14. 14.Pewter website. Accessed 31 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  15. 15.Summary of micro1's video "How to earn up to $2M training AI models with anonymized company data". Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  16. 16.Meta Ad Library, Nyne.ai. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  17. 17.Meta Ad Library, Nyne.ai. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  18. 18.Meta Ad Library, Nyne.ai. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  19. 19.Mode press release (Business Wire, via Yahoo Finance), published 13 Oct 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  20. 20.Grepped security page. Accessed 9 Nov 2026. Company's own claim.
  21. 21.Meta Ad Library, Your Data Value, published 13 Oct 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  22. 22.Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz, published 1 Oct 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  23. 23.micro1 Data License Master Terms, published 7 Oct 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  24. 24.Meta Ad Library, Nyne.ai. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  25. 25.micro1 Data License Master Terms, published 7 Oct 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  26. 26.Ventra company data page. Accessed 30 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  27. 27.RemoWork, published 29 Jun 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  28. 28.micro1 data partnerships page. Accessed 30 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  29. 29.Mode company data site. Accessed 30 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  30. 30.Labelbox Prism homepage. Accessed 30 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  31. 31.Labelbox Prism homepage. Accessed 30 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  32. 32.Patronus AI data partnerships page. Accessed 3 Nov 2026. Company's own claim.
  33. 33.Collinear data acquisition page. Accessed 30 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  34. 34.Scale AI data partnership page. Accessed 30 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  35. 35.Replay homepage. Accessed 30 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  36. 36.DataFactor data partner page. Accessed 3 Nov 2026. Company's own claim.
  37. 37.micro1 data partnerships page. Accessed 9 Nov 2026. Company's own claim.
  38. 38.Polyshares data licensing. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  39. 39.Polyshares website. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  40. 40.Mercor Data page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  41. 41.Ventra terms of service, published 30 Sep 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  42. 42.Polyshares track record and data-handling page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  43. 43.Troveo, exclusive vs non-exclusive data licenses, published 10 Sep 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  44. 44.Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz (Daniel Goldberg), published 1 Oct 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  45. 45.Meta Ad Library, Nyne.ai, published 1 Oct 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  46. 46.MIT Technology Review, published 13 Oct 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  47. 47.The Next Web, published 9 Oct 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  48. 48.Meta Ad Library (our review). Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  49. 49.TechCrunch, published 16 Sep 2025. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  50. 50.Polyshares broker account, market criteria update (2026-10-22), published 22 Oct 2026. Accessed 22 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  51. 51.Polyshares data licensing page. Accessed 30 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  52. 52.Ventra company data page. Accessed 30 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.