For Chapter 7 trustees
Turn the debtor's servers into a distribution
Data is often the last unadministered asset in a Chapter 7 case, and it loses value as accounts lapse and backups are wiped. We work at the trustee's direction to preserve, value, de-identify and sell it, with the papers trustee's counsel needs.
- No upfront cost
- Built for court approval
- De-identified
- Confidential
Confidential valuation
Step 1 of 2Not your company to sell? Refer it insteadWe'll send them a short intro that mentions you.
Illustrative range: up to $50K to $1M+, paid to the estate, usually for a license of a de-identified copy.
Illustrative, not a quote or a promise of price, timing or approvalChapter 7 trustees
Why it works for Chapter 7 trustees
AI developers aren't buying your customer list. They want the de-identified record of how the work gets done. In a restructuring, that record is an estate asset.
Preserve first
We help identify where the data lives and what it takes to keep it before subscriptions and hosting are cut off.
A documented market test
Multiple bidders and a written process support the trustee's business judgment at the sale hearing.
Privacy handled
We screen for personally identifiable information and help determine whether a consumer privacy ombudsman is needed.
What qualifies
Where the saleable data usually lives
You choose what's included, system by system. Rough estimates of volume and years of history are enough to start. No files are needed.
| System | What it shows a buyer | Typical sources |
|---|---|---|
| Cloud workspaces | Often still live or recoverable. | Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Slack |
| Business systems | Exports or backups of CRM, ERP and tickets. | Salesforce, NetSuite, Zendesk |
| Servers & backups | On-premises or hosted file shares. | NAS, S3, hosted servers |
| Code & docs | Repositories and internal documentation. | GitHub, Confluence |
Excluded or removed by default
- PII restricted by the debtor's privacy policy (absent ombudsman process)
- Third-party confidential material
- Privileged material
- Anything the trustee elects to abandon or exclude
Before the hosting contract lapses.
How it works
From rough estimate to signed offer
You stay in control at every step. We do the packaging, the outreach and the negotiating, the way a banker would run a sale process.
- i.
Share rough estimates
Tell us which systems you use, roughly how much is in each, years of history, headcount and years in business.
- ii.
We package & de-identify
We scope the dataset with you, then export, clean and de-identify it, or guide your team to do it. Exclusions are honored.
- iii.
Labs compete
We take a packaged description to multiple AI labs and run a competitive process, so you're not negotiating against a single buyer.
- iv.
You approve, you get paid
You see the buyer, the price and the terms. Nothing is shared until you say yes. If it doesn't work for you, walk away.
Bid summary · Example
Exhibit: summary of bids received
- Seller
- Debtor (the estate)
- Asset
- De-identified operational records, 6 yrs
- Scope
- Slack · Docs · CRM
- Privacy
- De-identified before delivery
- Approval
- Sale order under § 363(b)
Bids received
What the labs actually see
They want the workflow, not the people. The workflow stays. The identities don't.
Here's what surprises most owners: labs don't care who said what. They care that a quote went from request to approval in two messages, and why. Names, emails, phone numbers, addresses, account numbers and customer names are removed or replaced before delivery. You approve the exact scope in writing.
Maria Chen9:14 AM
@Tom Alvarez can you approve the revised quote for Brightline Foods? They need it by Thursday.
Tom Alvarez9:21 AM
Approved. Send it from tom@hartwell-logistics.com and copy the account manager.
PERSON_309:14
@PERSON_7 can you approve the revised quote for CUSTOMER_22? They need it by Thursday.
PERSON_709:21
Approved. Send it from and copy the account manager.
Removed or replaced
- Names
- Emails
- Phone numbers
- Addresses
- Account numbers
- Customer names
- Excluded channels & folders
Our commitments
Privacy, control, low effort, no strings
The four things owners ask about first, answered plainly. The specifics go in writing before you sign anything.
Privacy
Everything is de-identified. Labs want how work gets done (workflows, decisions, how work moves through systems), not who said what.
Control
You choose what is included. Nothing is shared until you approve the buyer, price and terms, and anything outside the ordinary course goes to the court first.
Effort
Our engineers can handle the export and cleanup, or your team can run it with our playbooks. Your call.
No strings
No upfront cost, no retainer and no commitment. Any fee is paid only from a closed transaction, disclosed in the sale papers and subject to court approval where required.
Who qualifies
You're probably sitting on this if…
Not sure? Submit rough estimates anyway. We'll tell you honestly whether there's a market for your data.
- US case or US companyOur process is built around US bankruptcy courts and US buyers.
- Real operating historyUsually 20+ employees or several years of specialized records.
- Records in the systems aboveModern or legacy. Consistency over several years matters most.
- Data the company controlsWe review client, customer and vendor agreements with you first.
Value estimator
Get a rough sense of what you're sitting on.
Move the sliders and pick your systems. This is a simple illustrative heuristic, not an offer. It's meant to answer one question: is this worth a conversation? Real numbers come only from labs competing for your dataset.
- More systemsChat, docs and email together show a fuller picture of work.
- More historySeveral years show how processes change over time.
- Unique workflowsWell-documented, specialized work matters more than raw size.
We're focused on 20+ employees, but specialized datasets are considered case by case.
Illustrative only. This is a rough heuristic, not an offer, quote or guarantee. Real offers depend on lab demand, data quality and uniqueness, de-identification scope, and terms.
Who controls the process?
The trustee. We act at the trustee's direction, and any engagement and fee are subject to the court's approval where required.
What if the data has little value?
We'll say so early, so the trustee can decide whether to abandon it under Section 554 rather than spend estate money on it.
Can a company in Chapter 11 sell or license its data?
Generally yes. Data the debtor owns is property of the estate under Section 541. A debtor in possession can use or sell estate property in the ordinary course, but a sale or license outside the ordinary course, which a data transaction usually is, requires notice and a hearing under Section 363(b). In practice your counsel files a motion and the court approves the transaction if it reflects sound business judgment and a fair process. How court approval works
How much could it bring in?
For US companies with real operating history, our illustrative range is up to $50K to $1M+. The amount depends on the systems included, years of history, how specialized the work is, how much must be excluded for contract or privacy reasons, and buyer demand at the time. We never promise a price; the number comes from competing bids and the court's approval.
Who buys it, and why?
AI developers that train and evaluate models on realistic business work. They want the record of how work gets done (workflows, decisions, handoffs), not the identities of the people involved, which is why everything is de-identified before delivery. We don't name buyers publicly; you and, where required, the court will know the buyer before anything closes.
Guides for Chapter 7 trustees
Read before you decide
Trustee liquidation of intangible assets: data, domains and software
For Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 trustees: finding, preserving and selling intangibles like operational data, domain names and software, or abandoning them under Section 554.
Read guide · 3 min
Privacy policies and bankruptcy data sales: what your old promises mean now
How a debtor's privacy policy limits selling data under Section 363(b)(1), which data the rule covers, the ombudsman, the FTC and state privacy laws.
Read guide · 3 minYour next hearing is on the calendar. Your data's value isn't. Let's fix that.
Free, confidential and fast: a read on what your data could bring, what has to stay out, and what the court will need to see. You and, where required, the court approve before anything is shared.