micro1 data partnership program: who qualifies, what it pays and how referrals work
The micro1 data partnership program licenses a company's operating records, such as SOPs, CRM records, support tickets and project histories, and micro1 publishes company compensation of $100K to $2M+ for approved data packages. The program is for your company licensing its records to micro1; it is separate from micro1's talent and candidate referral program for individual experts.
By Hoyt Gong, Topology Partners. Facts checked . Topology Partners is an independent referral intermediary and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any buyer named on this page.
What micro1 licenses through its data partnership program
micro1 licenses the records your company already produces by operating: SOPs, process documentation, internal knowledge bases, templates, internal communications, project histories, CRM records, QA processes and support tickets. If you searched for how to sell data to micro1, what micro1 offers is a license, not a sale; micro1 states that companies keep ownership of their underlying data.
micro1's data-partnerships page names six workflow areas it wants:
- Software and engineering: code documentation, engineering workflows, bug tracking, product planning.
- Finance and accounting: SOPs, reconciliations, approvals, reporting workflows.
- Customer support: support documentation, ticket workflows, QA processes.
- Sales and CRM: CRM data, sales processes, playbooks, revenue operations.
- Legal and contracts: policies, contract workflows, review processes, compliance procedures.
- Operations and logistics: logistics processes, fulfillment workflows, inventory management.
micro1 sets no minimum number of files or terabytes. It says companies with several years of records across several systems are a stronger fit. Count your years of history in each system before your first call.
Who qualifies for a micro1 data partnership
micro1 asks for established companies with 30+ full-time employees, mature business operations and substantial historical records. Its other conditions, from the same page, read 2026-10-25:
- Language: records primarily in English, and company representatives who work with micro1 in English throughout.
- Country: micro1 prioritizes US companies, then other Western markets. It says demand is strongest for companies based in the US, the UK and Canada; other regions may be considered.
- Industry: micro1's referral page lists all industries.
Topology Partners does not introduce law firms, accounting firms, banks, defense contractors, schools, staffing firms or anyone holding patient health data. If you fit micro1's bar and none of those, micro1 belongs on your list.
What micro1 publishes about data partnership payouts
micro1 publishes company compensation of $100K to $2M+ for approved data packages, and its own pages state that figure in four ways:
| Where micro1 publishes it | Figure | Read |
|---|---|---|
| Company-referral page | $100K to $2M+ for approved data packages | 2026-10-25 |
| Data-partnerships page, headline | $200K to $2M+ | 2026-10-25 |
| Data-partnerships page, payment step | Typically $150K to over $2M | 2026-10-25 |
| Data-partnerships page, tiers | $100K to $500K for qualified enterprise data partnerships; $500K to $2M for large-scale datasets or several teams; $2M+ for highly unique records | 2026-10-25 |
micro1 says compensation depends on dataset size, workflow complexity, data quality, domain expertise and how unique the knowledge is. Each partnership is priced on its own.
micro1 also runs a payout estimator that asks for headcount, years of records and headquarters country. These are micro1's own estimator outputs for a US company, sampled Oct 15, 2026:
| Employees | Years of records | micro1's own estimator, sampled Oct 15, 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| 30 | 5 | $203,016 to $376,750 |
| 100 | 10 | $379,290 to $888,088 |
| 250 | 10 | $659,471 to $1,738,963 |
micro1 labels the result "Indicative estimate only" and says the final payout depends on data sources, volume, quality, access terms and due diligence. Treat it as micro1's starting range, not an offer.
On payment, micro1 says it has 30 days to review and approve your data after transfer. Your company then invoices, and micro1 pays within 30 days of invoicing.
micro1's defunct-company data partnership track
micro1 runs a separate defunct-company data partnership and states that it is acquiring data from companies that are no longer operating. Its company-referral page lists the same company compensation for this track, $100K to $2M+ for approved data packages.
The listed requirements are 30+ employees, English records and any industry. micro1 does not publish who signs for a closed company, such as a former officer, an estate or an assignee. If your company has wound down, have your lawyer confirm who holds the right to license the records before any introduction.
How the micro1 company referral works and what it pays Topology Partners
micro1's company referral works through a personal referral link: your company registers and applies through my link, and micro1 then reviews you and runs an initial AI interview. micro1 says manual introductions, applications submitted on a company's behalf and meeting requests do not replace its application, so you fill it in yourself.
micro1 publishes what it pays the referrer on its company-referral page:
| Track | Referral fee micro1 pays Topology Partners | When micro1 pays it |
|---|---|---|
| Enterprise data partnership | $50,000 for deals up to $700,000, or 7.5% of deal value above that | By wire, after micro1 has received and approved the data |
| Defunct-company data partnership | $75,000 on deals up to $1M | By wire, after micro1 has received and approved the data |
You pay nothing, and the fee never comes out of your contract. micro1's referral terms bar a referrer from sharing any part of the fee with your company, its employees, owners or representatives, so none is offered. The full disclosure for every buyer is on the fees section and in the referral fee comparison.
micro1 referral attribution: the first contact must be the referral link
micro1 credits a referral only when your company's first registration with micro1 comes through the referral link. Three rules follow from micro1's company-referral page and its referral terms:
- Your company must register through the link before any other contact with micro1.
- micro1 does not change attribution after the fact. An application created without the link cannot be attributed later.
- A company that is already a lead, applicant or prospect in micro1's system is not attributable.
If you or anyone at your company has already applied to micro1 or spoken with its team, tell me before we start. I will leave micro1 off your list and introduce you to the other buyers you fit.
What to get in writing from micro1
Get five terms written into your micro1 contract before you transfer any records:
- De-identification method. De-identification means removing names and anything else that points to a person. micro1 says it removes or transforms personal information before sharing data with third parties, and may rewrite some datasets synthetically. Ask which method applies to your records and whether you review samples first; micro1 says you can.
- Deletion at term end. micro1 says raw data is deleted on an agreed schedule and at the end of an engagement. Write the schedule into the contract and ask for written confirmation when deletion happens.
- Use limits. micro1's contract step commits it not to resell or distribute your data until personal information is anonymized. Spell out who may receive the records after that, and for what use.
- Named-competitor exclusions. List the competitors that may never receive your records, by name.
- The country question. micro1 says your data is licensed only to AI labs and companies based in the US and allied countries, and it does not list which countries count as allied. If it matters to you, we ask every buyer in writing; any that refuses comes off your list.
Your lawyer decides the final wording. The checklist for counsel lists what they will check.
What micro1 does not publish
micro1 does not publish several terms you may want before you sign, so ask for them in writing:
- Referral fee timing after approval. micro1's referral terms leave the timing of referral payouts to micro1's discretion and allow a holdback period. This affects my fee, not your payment.
- Typical payout by company size. Beyond its estimator, micro1 publishes no typical company payout or referral bonus for a 50-person or a 200-person company.
- Which countries count as allied. micro1 names the US and allied countries without a list.
- Exclusivity. micro1's pages do not say whether it asks for exclusivity. Ask before you compare any offers from other buyers.
Questions owners ask
Is the micro1 data partnership the same as micro1's expert or candidate referral program?
No. The data partnership is for companies that license their operating records to micro1. micro1 also runs programs for individual experts and candidates, which pay for work or hires, not for company records. If you are an owner of a company with 30 or more employees, the data partnership is the one that applies.
How much does micro1 pay for company data?
micro1's company-referral page lists company compensation of $100K to $2M+ for approved data packages (read 2026-10-25). Its data-partnerships page lists tiers of $100K to $500K, $500K to $2M and $2M+. micro1's own payout estimator gives a range by headcount and years of records, and micro1 calls that range an indicative estimate only.
What does micro1 pay Topology Partners for a referral?
micro1 publishes $50,000 for deals up to $700,000, or 7.5% of deal value above that, and $75,000 for a defunct company on deals up to $1M. micro1 pays by wire after it has received and approved your data. You pay nothing, and the fee never comes out of your contract.
Do I have to de-identify my records before micro1 takes them?
No. micro1 says it has its own processes for de-identifying and transforming sensitive information, so you do not anonymize anything first. Topology Partners never receives, scopes, de-identifies or moves your records; micro1 does that under its own contract with you.
I already applied to micro1. Can Topology Partners still introduce me?
Not to micro1. micro1 attributes a company only if its first registration came through a referral link, and it does not change attribution after the fact. Tell me before we start, and I will introduce you only to the other buyers you fit.
When does micro1 pay my company?
micro1 says it has 30 days to review and approve your data after transfer. After approval, your company submits an invoice and micro1 pays within 30 days of invoicing. Put both dates in the contract.
Can a company that has shut down license its records to micro1?
Yes. micro1 runs a defunct-company data partnership and says it is acquiring data from companies that are no longer operating. It lists the same $100K to $2M+ company compensation and asks for 30+ employees and English records.
How Topology Partners is paid
Topology Partners is paid by buyers, never by you. When you sign with a buyer that runs a referral program, that buyer pays us a referral fee. Here is what each buyer publishes, as we read it on October 24, 2026:
- micro1: $50,000 for deals up to $700,000, or 7.5% of deal value above that; $75,000 for a company that has shut down, on deals up to $1M. micro1 pays by wire after it has received and approved the data.
- Mercor: 5% of the signed deal, up to $100,000. Each Mercor listing sets its own cap, currently $25,000 to $92,500. Paid after your first data delivery.
- Scale AI: up to $50,000, paid only if Scale signs a partnership with you.
- Handshake AI: $10,000, paid once your data transfer is completed and accepted.
- Turing (Project Lazarus): up to $10,000 when a referral “becomes a deal”. Turing doesn't define what that means.
- Troveo: a marketplace with no referral program. It pays us nothing.
Some buyers pay us more than others. Here is what that means for you:
- 01You pay nothing. No fee to us, at any point, whether or not you sign.
- 02Nothing comes out of your contract. The buyer pays our fee separately; it is never deducted from what you're paid.
- 03You see our fee first. Before any introduction, we tell you in writing what each buyer pays us.
- 04You can strike any buyer. Including the ones that pay us most. Offers come straight to you, and the final choice, including “none”, is yours.
No buyer pays us to be listed or ranked on this site.
See which buyers fit your company
Answer four questions and see your matches now, checked against each buyer's published criteria. Nothing to upload, nothing to pay.
Sources
- micro1, Data partnerships page, read 2026-10-25
- micro1, Company referral page, read 2026-10-25
- micro1, Data payout estimator (outputs sampled Oct 15, 2026; page re-read 2026-10-25), read 2026-10-15
- micro1, Referral terms (last updated October 14, 2026), read 2026-10-25