FAQ
Every question we get asked, answered plainly.
If yours is not here, email us or book a call. We would rather answer a hard question now than surprise you later.
The basics
Is this real? Who actually buys company data?
Frontier AI labs, model developers, enterprise AI teams and data marketplaces. Publicly reported deals with publishers, forums and image libraries show the budgets involved. Most of that money has gone to large companies so far; we bring the same buyers to mid-market sellers.
Do we have to hand over our data to get a valuation?
No. The valuation starts from your description of the systems, years and volumes. If it looks like a fit, we sign an NDA and review a small, representative sample. Full datasets never move before a signed contract.
What about customer privacy and HIPAA, GDPR or CCPA?
Personal information is removed before any buyer sees a sample, using methods appropriate to your data, such as HIPAA Safe Harbor for health records. We review consent, notices and vendor terms with your counsel, and buyers are prohibited from re-identification attempts.
Do we lose ownership of the data?
No. Deals are structured as licenses. You keep ownership and the license states exactly what the buyer may do, typically training and evaluation only, with no resale.
Money
How much could our data be worth?
Illustrative ranges run from about $25K for a small, single-source dataset to $1M or more for large multi-year collections. Actual value depends on uniqueness, quality, rights and buyer demand. The estimator gives a range in two minutes; a written valuation follows the sample review.
How do you get paid?
From the deals we close for you, as a share of the license revenue. There is no fee for the valuation and no cost to you if nothing sells.
How is the price of a dataset decided?
By uniqueness, volume, years of history, cleanliness and labels, rights clarity, exclusivity and current buyer demand. Our written valuation shows how each factor affected the range, and the final price is set in negotiation with buyers you approve.
When do we get paid?
On the schedule in the license, typically within 30 to 60 days of signature for one-time licenses or on a recurring schedule for multi-year agreements. Knowledge Fuel's fee is deducted from license revenue as disclosed before signing.
Are there tax implications?
Licensing revenue is income to your company and may have tax and accounting consequences. We do not give tax advice; raise the question with your accountant early.
Privacy, rights and compliance
What about customer privacy and HIPAA, GDPR or CCPA?
Personal information is removed before any buyer sees a sample, using methods appropriate to your data, such as HIPAA Safe Harbor for health records. We review consent, notices and vendor terms with your counsel, and buyers are prohibited from re-identification attempts.
What if we are not sure we have the rights?
That is common and rarely a dead end. The rights review looks at your customer, employee and vendor agreements and identifies what can be licensed, what needs a carve-out and what needs consent. We work alongside your counsel.
Can we exclude certain records or customers?
Yes. Carve-outs are common: a particular client, a category of records, a date range or anything under a confidentiality obligation. The license describes exactly what is included.
What if our vendor contract claims rights over our data?
Some SaaS and EHR contracts restrict data extraction or claim rights over derived data. The rights review covers vendor agreements before valuation is finalized, and we tell you what we find.
Do you handle data from outside the United States?
Yes, with the applicable regime mapped first, for example GDPR for EU personal data. Some datasets are excluded because the compliance requirements cannot be met, and we say so early.
Process and timing
Do we have to hand over our data to get a valuation?
No. The valuation starts from your description of the systems, years and volumes. If it looks like a fit, we sign an NDA and review a small, representative sample. Full datasets never move before a signed contract.
How long does this take?
A written valuation typically takes days after the rights check and sample review. Finding a buyer and closing a contract takes longer and depends on the data and the market, usually weeks to a few months.
How much of our team's time does this take?
Usually a few hours in total: the form, a call, locating a sample and answering rights questions. We do the rest.
Do we need to clean or label the data first?
No. Cleanliness affects value, and we tell you where cleaning or labeling would raise the range, but we can also arrange it as part of the deal.
What if we want to stop?
Until a license is signed there is no commitment. Samples are deleted and the NDA continues to protect everything shared.
Referral partners
How do referral partners get paid?
A share of Knowledge Fuel's net revenue on every deal that closes from an introduction, paid when we are paid, for the first 24 months. The standard rate and full terms are on the refer page and in the referral terms.
Do partners have to handle data or sell?
No. Partners introduce. We handle valuation, buyers, contracts and compliance, and we keep the partner informed.
Find out what your data is worth.
Two minutes for an estimate. Ten minutes for a real valuation request. No raw data required, NDA on request.