AI labs are increasingly purchasing data from defunct startups to train their models, generating new revenue streams for founders winding down operations. SimpleClosure, a company specializing in assisting dying startups, launched its Asset Hub platform in April to facilitate these sales. Since then, Asset Hub has brokered over 150 deals and expects to return more than $10 million to startups by the end of 2026, according to technologyreview.com.
Keelan Miskell, who shut down his crypto startup this year, sold his company’s digital archives—including code and workspace data from Google, Notion, Figma, and Slack—through SimpleClosure. He earned roughly $25,000 for the code base and anticipates an additional $15,000 from workspace data. SimpleClosure CEO Dori Yona noted that such transactions, once rare and considered taboo, have become routine as more startups face shutdowns, which have risen between 26% and 56% annually in recent years.
The rise of this end-of-life ecosystem, which includes legal and operational support for closing startups, reflects a broader market trend. Buyers of these data assets include foundation AI labs, vendors creating simulated workspaces for AI training, and established tech companies developing their own AI models. This secondary market for startup data offers a way to monetize otherwise dormant digital assets and supports AI development by providing diverse training data.
SimpleClosure’s Asset Hub platform has handled over 150 transactions since its launch in April 2026 and projects to return more than $10 million to startup founders by year-end, marking a growing niche in the tech sector where data from shuttered startups fuels AI innovation.