SimpleClosure says 47% of its startup shutdowns now include a code or data sale

What was sold

SimpleClosure is a startup that helps founders wind down companies. In April 2026 it added data sales to its services, and its Asset Hub platform helps founders sell code and workspace data such as emails, chats and documents.¹ On October 13, 2026, MIT Technology Review reported that Asset Hub has handled more than 150 deals and that the company expects to return over $10 million to startups by the end of 2026. CEO Dori Yona said 47% of its deals now include code or data sales, a practice that was once rare and "somewhat taboo."¹

SimpleClosure's H1 2026 shutdown report lists code repositories, internal tools, AI models and data, domain names and hardware as assets that can be sold through the hub, and calls AI labs among the most active buyers.² The report gives no revenue or transaction counts for these sales.²

How the deal came together

Forbes covered the launch in April 2026. Gizmodo's summary says the company helps clients decide what data can be sold, assess its value and remove personally identifiable information, and that Yona described a "gold rush" among companies trying to get real-world data.³ SimpleClosure told Forbes it had handled nearly 100 deals in the past year, with payouts of $10,000 to $100,000 per company.³ AI Weekly reports the same range and describes roughly 100 deals.⁴

The buyers want data for what Forbes called reinforcement learning gyms, which are simulated workplaces for AI agents. MIT Technology Review adds that valuations rest on "research theses" about how many useful tasks a given volume of data supports.¹ Sunset, a competing wind-down firm, values assets by headcount, years in operation, data volume and how the team used its tools, according to the same report.¹

Timing is a theme. SimpleClosure says assets are worth most while the company is still operating, and most of their value is lost once the entity closes.² The same report shows AI companies were 14.4% of closures in H1 2026, down from 15.9% in its December 2025 report, and that B2B SaaS was 27.3%.² Carta and AngelList estimates cited by MIT Technology Review put the rise in startup shutdowns at 26% to 56% annually in recent years.¹

What went wrong or drew pushback

The criticism is about consent and money. Ifeoma Ajunwa, an Emory University law professor, calls the proceeds "captured capital" because they typically go to senior creditors and investors, not employees, and says employers should have express consent before selling workers' data. She notes there is no federal law banning such sales.¹ Attorney Greg Ewing called the data "legally radioactive."¹

Marc Rotenberg of the Center for AI and Digital Policy told Forbes the privacy issues were "quite substantial" because "It's identifiable people."³ Forbes also reported that Yona said parts of Asset Hub were still in beta because removing personal information is technically difficult.³

Several questions remain open, per a summary of the October report: employee consent, who receives the proceeds, and whether the data measurably improves AI.⁵ The 47% figure is the company's own and I did not find independent verification.

What it means for companies with data

SimpleClosure's numbers are the clearest published look at the low end of the market. A typical payout of $10,000 to $100,000 is small relative to a venture round, but for a company that is closing it can be the difference between zero and something.³ The cases of cielo24 and Keelan Miskell on this tracker show both ends: a reported six-figure archive sale and a roughly $25,000 codebase sale.

For a company that is not shutting down, the lesson is about timing and readiness. Value is highest while the team and tools are live, the data is documented, and someone can answer buyer questions. Sensitive employee and health records are the part that most often has to be excluded or cleaned, and cleaning takes time.

See /data/code/ and /data/communications/ for the data types involved.