Data licensing · Who serves whom
Data licensing companies by seller type
"Data licensing company" covers very different businesses. Which one fits depends first on what kind of seller you are and whose data it is.
WritingBy Landon LittleOctober 9, 20265 min read
The short answer
A data licensing company connects someone who holds data with the AI labs and model developers that pay to train on it. The right one depends on what kind of seller you are, because each serves a different group and none of them serves everyone.
| Seller | What you hold | Routes that exist | Nova Solutions? |
|---|---|---|---|
| A running US business | Your own operating records: email, chat, CRM, accounting, tickets, documents | Providers that license company data, such as Nyne, micro1 and Nova Solutions | Yes, with 20 or more employees and three years of records |
| A shut-down or bankrupt company | The archive left after closing: messages, tickets, code | Wind-down marketplaces such as SimpleClosure's, buyers such as Mercor and micro1, or a court-run sale in bankruptcy | No |
| An individual | Your own personal data | Consumer apps such as Verb | No |
| A researcher or institution | Research, scientific or medical datasets | Not covered here. We have not evaluated these routes | No |
| A large publisher or platform | Content published at scale | Direct deals with AI labs | No |
A running business licensing its own records
This is the route for a company that is still operating and wants to license a de-identified copy of the records it builds up by working. The providers describe what they want in similar terms. micro1's page names SOPs, knowledge bases, CRM data, project histories, QA processes, financial processes and reconciliations, support ticket workflows, sales playbooks, contract workflows, and logistics and fulfillment processes. Nyne's names finance and accounting records, customer records and support tickets, and scheduling, project and dispatch records.
| Provider | Who it says qualifies | Pay it publishes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nyne | At least 20 full-time US W-2 employees and three years in business | Partnerships "commonly worth $100K or more" | Nyne's page, read October 9, 2026 |
| micro1 | 30 or more employees, US companies prioritized, documentation in English | Tiers of $100K or more, $500K or more and $1M or more, by scope | micro1's data partnerships page, read October 9, 2026 |
| Nova Solutions | US operating businesses with 20 or more employees and three years of records, in its listed industries | No rate published. Two deals arranged by an independent partner closed at $100,000 each | Nova Solutions' data licensing page |
All three describe the seller as a company licensing its own records. None of their pages describes buying research datasets or an individual's personal data. What the figures above are worth for your company is covered in How much is business data worth to AI labs?, and the checklist before you talk to anyone is in How to sell business data to AI companies.
A shut-down or bankrupt company
A company that has closed can sell what it left behind. SimpleClosure, which handles startup wind-downs, runs a marketplace for closing startups' code and workplace data, and Upstarts Media reported nearly 100 deals and about $1 million returned to founders by April 2026. AI Weekly, summarizing other reporting, put typical payouts at $10,000 to $100,000 a company and named Mercor and micro1 as buyers.
At the top of this market, Spirit Airlines' records went to a court-run auction in its bankruptcy: about 100 million emails and 500 million Teams items among them. Google was selected at $10 million at the August 14, 2026 auction, Mercor at $7.5 million as the alternate bidder, and micro1 later filed a $12.5 million competing bid. As of October 8 the sale had not been approved, with a hearing set for October 14. Nova Solutions does not work with closed companies.
An individual selling personal data
A separate group of consumer apps pays people for their own data. Verb launched a marketplace in August 2026 where users share selected activity from their phone, such as shopping habits and app use, and set their own price. According to American Bazaar's report on the launch, AI labs are expected to be its biggest buyers. Nova Solutions does not buy, sell or place personal data.
A researcher or research institution
If what you hold is research works, scientific datasets, or medical or patient data, this post does not cover your route. We have not evaluated the companies that license that kind of data, so we do not name any here, and Nova Solutions does not work with it.
A large publisher or platform
The deals that made headlines, such as Reddit's agreement with Google, are direct contracts between large platforms and AI labs. They are a different market from every route above. The AI data economy just started paying small businesses too covers how that market reached smaller companies.
Where Nova Solutions fits
Nova Solutions works with one group: US operating businesses with 20 or more employees and at least three years of records, in manufacturing, freight and logistics, 3PL, accounting, finance, insurance, distribution, construction, professional services or retail, licensing a de-identified copy of their own records. Healthcare and legal are on a compliance hold. We take the sample to AI labs and model developers, you approve the buyer and the price, and we are paid only if a deal closes.
Nova Solutions has not closed a deal itself. The two $100,000 deals on our data licensing page were arranged independently by a partner.
Sources
- Nyne, Company data partnerships, read October 9, 2026.
- micro1, Data partnerships, read October 9, 2026.
- Upstarts Media, What Fetches Top Dollar On The Dead Startup Data Marketplace?, September 3, 2026.
- AI Weekly, Mercor chases shuttered startups' Slack and Jira archives, August 15, 2026. Summarizes reporting by Forbes, The Information and Fast Company.
- Chapter 11 Cases, The Spirit Airlines deidentified data sale: auction results, objections, and the September 30 hearing, September 13, 2026.
- Fortune, report on micro1's bid for Spirit Airlines' data, September 14, 2026.
- FlightGlobal, US lawmakers urge Google to exclude worker details from Spirit Airlines data sale, October 8, 2026.
- American Bazaar, report on Verb's launch, August 6, 2026.
- Nova Solutions, data licensing, for our own terms and the two partner deals.
Questions this post answers
- What do data licensing companies do?
- They sit between whoever holds the data and the AI labs and model developers that pay to train on it: they find buyers, prepare or de-identify the data, and set the license terms. Who they serve differs a lot: running businesses, shut-down startups, individuals, or large publishers.
- Which data licensing companies work with a small or mid-size business?
- For running US businesses, Nyne's page asks for at least 20 full-time US W-2 employees and three years in business, micro1's page asks for 30 or more employees and prioritizes US companies, and Nova Solutions works with US operating businesses with 20 or more employees and at least three years of records, in its listed industries.
- Can I sell research or scientific data to AI companies?
- Not through Nova Solutions, and none of the operating-business providers whose pages we read lists research or scientific datasets among what it licenses. We have not evaluated the routes for research datasets, so we do not point to one here.
- Can individuals sell their data to AI companies?
- Yes, through consumer apps built for it. Verb, for example, launched a marketplace in August 2026 where people share selected activity from their phone and set their own price, with AI labs expected to be its biggest buyers. Nova Solutions does not work with individuals.
- What is an AI data licensing deal?
- A contract that lets an AI lab or model developer use a copy of data for training under agreed terms: what is included, how it may be used, whether it is exclusive, and what is paid. Under a non-exclusive license the seller keeps the originals and can license again.
Wondering what your own data is worth?
We set up the deal on your behalf: you approve the buyer and the price, you keep every original, and nothing is owed unless a deal closes.