Updated October 2026
micro1 vs SimpleClosure: selling the data of a company you closed
micro1 ran Facebook ads asking owners of closed companies whether their previous company's data could be worth up to $2M, for US firms that had 25+ employees at their peak. SimpleClosure, which handles shutdowns, reports 150+ data deals for wound-down startups at typically $10K-$100K each. The gap between those numbers is the first thing to understand.1,2
Side by side
micro1 and SimpleClosure, row by row
| Topic | micro1 | SimpleClosure |
|---|---|---|
| Closed companies | Ads targeted US firms with 25+ staff at peak; its own pages state 30+ employees1,3 | Built for startups winding down2 |
| Figure quoted | Up to $2M (ad wording)1 | Typically $10K-$100K per deal2 |
| What it wants | Documented, repeated workflows: SOPs, knowledge bases, CRM metadata, internal comms4,5 | Code, Slack, email and docs6 |
| Excluded | Personal details removed "when relevant"7 | Sensitive employee and health records6 |
| How you start | A five-question Facebook lead form, or micro1's estimator1,8 | As part of a wind-down engagement2 |
The gap
Up to $2M against $10K-$100K
The $2M is a ceiling in an ad, not a typical deal; micro1's own top program tier is $1M+ for highly unique data. SimpleClosure's figure is a typical range reported by Forbes; MIT Technology Review counts 150+ completed deals. A company that closed with 30 staff and tidy documentation sits between the two, and the only way to find out where is a written offer.1,3,2
Which fits
Which suits which closed company
micro1 looks for well defined workflows that employees executed repeatedly, which favors service firms with SOPs and playbooks. SimpleClosure's deals lean toward software startups with code and Slack. If you are mid-shutdown, SimpleClosure handles the rest of the closure too; if the company is already gone and you hold its records, micro1 is a direct buyer.5,6,2
Before answering either, confirm who can still sign for the company and who holds the admin logins to its old Slack, email and drives.6
FAQ
Questions, answered with sources
Not in the sources we checked. It expects to return over $10M to startups by the end of 2026.9
Its published terms give it a perpetual, nonexclusive license; data is deleted within 120 days, trained models are not.10
We do not answer legal questions. Ask the licensing company: their team reviews this with you before anything is signed.
Before you sign
Legal questions go to the licensing company
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
- Who owns this data: the company, an estate, or someone else?
- 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?