Goodwattle

For founders closing a company

Before you deregister, your code and workspace data still have buyers.

AI training buyers pay for the engineering history of companies that are closing. We aim to work in weeks, not months, while the repositories and exports still exist.

A SIMPLE HELLOAbout 20 seconds

Where can we say g’day?

Leave your name and email and we’ll get in touch. You can tell us about your project next, if you like.

Goodwattle buys and licenses code, tickets, documents and other workspace archives from companies that are winding down, then supplies them, scrubbed and verified, to vendors that build AI training data. Payment goes to the entity that owns the assets.

Colourful project folders and a kookaburra, full of new possibilities.
Closing up. Not throwing out.
Australian teamSelected work you ownClear terms before handover

Before anything lapses

Keep your options open.

A deregistered company can’t sign a contract. In Australia, property a company still holds when it is deregistered generally vests in ASIC; in New Zealand it generally passes to the Crown. A little care now keeps options open. This is general information, not legal advice.

  • Export every repository with full history before hosting or seats are cancelled
  • Export Slack, Jira, Confluence, Notion or Linear while admin access still works
  • Confirm employee and contractor IP was assigned to the company
  • Keep the assets in the company until a sale or licence is agreed, rather than deregistering first
  • Ask your accountant, adviser or liquidator how any proceeds should be handled

You don’t need to send anything confidential to start. A short description of what exists is enough.

The market already exists

This is already happening in the US.

Reporting in October 2026 described AI labs and data vendors buying code, chat and ticket archives from defunct US startups, with codebase deals reported in the tens of thousands of US dollars (MIT Technology Review).

Those are other companies’ deals, not a Goodwattle offer. Australian and New Zealand companies rarely hear about this market at all. We appraise each company individually and tell you plainly if there isn’t a fit.

What buyers want

What a closing company can offer.

01

The code with its history

Private repositories with commits, pull requests and reviews intact. A final snapshot alone is worth much less.

02

The work around the code

Tickets, design docs, incident notes and engineering chat show how a team really built software. More on workspace archives.

03

Clean title

A clear chain of ownership and someone able to sign. If an external administrator is involved, we work with them.

Personal information

Handled before anything leaves.

01

Excluded by default

HR, payroll, health, customer records and private messages between individuals are out of scope.

02

Scrubbed before delivery

Names, emails, phone numbers and other identifiers are removed or replaced before anything reaches a buyer, and the scrub is logged.

03

Privacy law still applies

The Australian Privacy Act 1988 and New Zealand Privacy Act 2020 apply while a company closes. The scope is agreed with you in writing.

Try it yourself

Get a feel for it first.

Browser-only and illustrative. Nothing is stored or sent unless you choose to.

A little look. A clear next step.

From old work
to a new conversation.

  1. 1

    Say g’day

    Leave your name, email and an optional phone number. We save your enquiry straight away; project details and a small sample can follow if you like.

  2. 2

    Explore the fit

    A real person reviews your overview. We discuss the opportunity and arrange confidentiality before a detailed review.

  3. 3

    Consider an offer

    If there’s a fit, we put the scope, rights, intended uses and payment in writing. You decide whether to proceed.

A purchase. A licence. A possibility.

A purchase can transfer agreed rights. A licence can let you keep ownership while permitting specific uses, including AI research, training or evaluation. We can discuss a fixed payment, revenue share or ongoing arrangement where suitable. Nothing is sold or licensed by sending an enquiry.

A LITTLE CLARITY

Good questions.
Honest answers.

Your work. Your next chapter.
Let’s make the possibilities clear.

Something else on your mind?Book a friendly call Say g’day by email
How much can I get paid?

Smaller projects can range from A$200 to A$10,000. Substantial company-owned codebases can be worth A$60,000 or more. Value depends on complexity, quality, contents, rights and fit. Every project is evaluated individually; these figures are possibilities, not guaranteed offers.

Is it too late if we have already stopped trading?

Not necessarily. If the company still exists, someone can sign for it, and the repositories or exports still exist, there may be something to discuss.

How fast can this happen?

It depends on what exists and how quickly ownership can be confirmed. We aim to give you a fit decision quickly and to work in weeks rather than months, but we cannot promise a buyer or a date.

We have a liquidator or administrator. Can we still talk?

Yes. If an external administrator controls the company’s assets, any agreement goes through them. Start a conversation and we will involve the right people.

Do we have to sell everything?

No. You choose what is in scope: code alone, code with tickets and docs, or a licence over selected material.

Let’s see what’s possible

Closing a company is hard work.
Let’s make the code count.

Tell us what exists. We’ll tell you honestly whether it has buyers.

Talk about our wind-down

A friendly appraisal. No obligation to accept an offer.