Failed Startup Assets
Salvageable assets from shut-down startups: code, IP, brands, and domains.
What Failed Startup Assets are
When a startup shuts down, it often still owns valuable pieces even though the company itself did not succeed: source code, intellectual property and patents, a brand name, domains, designs, and sometimes a customer base. 'Failed startup assets' are these salvageable parts, sold individually or as a bundle rather than as a going concern.
Buyers acquire these assets to jump-start their own products, absorb technology or patents, or revive a brand. Because the seller is usually winding down, these assets frequently sell below what they cost to create, which is part of their appeal.
Common examples
Most expensive in history
Notable, publicly reported sales that shaped this asset class. These are historical market examples, not Emark transactions.
| Asset | Price | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Quibi content library (sold to Roku)Streaming startup shut down; its shows were sold off. | ~$100M | 2021 |
| Friendster patents (sold to Facebook)Patent portfolio from an early social network. | ~$40M | 2010 |
| Pebble assets (acquired by Fitbit)Smartwatch pioneer's software and IP after wind-down. | ~$23M | 2016 |
Not every startup succeeds, and when one closes, its investors and founders look to recover value from what remains. Over time this became a recognized market, with distressed-asset sales, patent auctions, and 'acqui-hires' where a larger company buys a shut-down team and its technology.
Several well-known shutdowns showed that even a failed company's pieces can be worth a great deal: patents, content libraries, and technology have all changed hands for significant sums after the original business ended.
Average prices
Individual asset
$500 – $50K
A codebase, brand, or domain sold on its own.
Asset bundle
$50K – $500K
Combined code, IP, and brand from a wind-down.
Strategic IP / acqui-hire
$500K+
Valuable patents, content, or teams and technology.
Distressed assets are priced on what they would cost a buyer to rebuild, not on the failed company's revenue. Sellers winding down often accept a fraction of the original investment, so prices vary widely by asset and urgency.
Frequently asked questions
Why buy assets from a failed startup?
You can acquire working code, IP, a brand, or a domain for far less than it would cost to build from scratch, then apply it to your own project.
What should buyers check first?
Clear ownership and transferability. Confirm who legally owns the code, IP, and data, and whether it can be transferred cleanly before agreeing to a price.
Related categories
Emark is in beta
A marketplace for failed startup assets and more
Emark is building a place to discover, value, and transact digital assets like these. Explore the marketplace preview or join the early cohort.