For Subchapter V small businesses
Fund your Subchapter V plan with an asset you already own
Subchapter V moves fast: a plan is generally due within 90 days. A data license can bring in cash without giving up equity or the business. We do the valuation and marketing; your counsel and the Subchapter V trustee stay in the loop from day one.
- 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 approvalSubchapter V
Why it works for Subchapter V small businesses
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.
Speed
We work to the plan deadline, not the other way around, and tell you early if the timing doesn't work.
Plan feasibility
Cash from a one-time asset sale can support plan payments or a feasibility showing, subject to the court's view.
No equity given up
A license of de-identified data leaves ownership of the business where it is.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Customer, vendor and team coordination. | Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 | |
| Accounting / ERP | Transaction workflows and approvals. | QuickBooks, NetSuite, Sage |
| Docs & SOPs | How the work is actually done. | Drive, SharePoint, binders scanned to PDF |
| Industry systems | Field service, dispatch, practice management and more. | Vertical software exports |
Excluded or removed by default
- Customer personal information restricted by your privacy policy
- Records under customer confidentiality terms
- Privileged communications
- Employee HR and health records
Small businesses keep years of records. Some of them are worth something.
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.
Questions
What Subchapter V small businesses ask first
Anything else? Write to offer@runwayoffer.com
Does the Subchapter V trustee need to approve it?
The court approves a sale outside the ordinary course; the Subchapter V trustee monitors the case and facilitates a plan, and will weigh in. Bringing them in early is usually the fastest path.
We're small. Is there enough data?
Sometimes not, and we'll say so. Several years of consistent records in a specialized line of work can matter more than headcount.
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 Subchapter V small businesses
Read before you decide
Subchapter V cash: can a small business sell its data to fund a plan?
For small business owners in Subchapter V: whether your records are worth anything, what the trustee and court need, and how a data license fits a 3-5 year plan.
Read guide · 3 min
363 motion to sell data: a checklist for debtor's counsel
A practical checklist for debtor's counsel drafting a Section 363 motion, declaration and proposed order for the sale or license of company data.
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.