Who is buying HVAC data?
Nyne, micro1, Scale AI and Labelbox Prism are the four buyers whose own pages give an HVAC contractor something concrete to measure against. Nyne opens at 20 full-time W-2 staff and names service histories and dispatch outright; micro1 opens at 30 and Scale AI likes 40.
Buyer terms on this page were read straight from the buyers' websites on .
Side by side: how do the buyers compare?
Each cell comes from the buyer's own site. Blank spots on a buyer's page show up here as not published. Sell HVAC Data stands apart from every company named here: none of them owns it, funds it or vouches for it.
| Buyer | Smallest company | Years | Published pay | Records that fit an HVAC company | Personal details | When paid | Ownership |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nyne | At least 20 full-time U.S. W-2 employees | Three years in business | Typically $100K and up, by type and volume of data | Service histories, jobs, dispatch and calendars, plus invoices, estimates, AP/AR and transaction history from QuickBooks, Xero or NetSuite, and CRM records | De-identified before release; who performs it is not stated | Not stated; set in the licensing agreement, with scope and acceptance agreed first | Whatever your agreement says about ownership and granted rights |
| micro1 | 30+ full-time employees | No minimum set; longer histories are said to fit better | Three published tiers: $100K–$500K, $500K–$3M for large operational sets, and $3M+ for highly unique data | Operations records, SOPs and process documentation, support records, sales and CRM records, finance records | micro1 strips and transforms sensitive details itself, and lets the company look over sample records | Paid in full inside 30 days of acceptance (its FAQ counts from the invoice instead) | The company keeps ownership of the underlying data |
| Scale AI | Prefers 40 or more employees; smaller firms judged one at a time | Not published | $10K to $1M+ a partnership, rising with how often you deliver; Scale calls the range illustrative, with no guarantee | Structured records and data warehouse tables, email threads, calendar events, CRM and ERP records, support records | Scrubbed while still on your own systems, before extraction; no employee or customer identities taken | Not published | Not stated, beyond saying the data remains under your governance |
| Labelbox Prism | No size rule published | Not published | About $50K for a small targeted set; $1M+ for the biggest enterprise deals | Customer support histories over long periods, favoring busy consumer-facing companies | PII scrubbing done by Prism after it receives the data | A fee when the license is signed, then a share of downstream revenue; Prism says money can land within 21 days of the first call | You keep control of the data and rights; exclusivity is the default |
A note on money: micro1 and Scale AI both reward the person who introduces a company that later signs, so we could be paid by either if you sign. The order of this list and our description of each buyer are the same either way.
What does each buyer say it wants?
Nyne
Nyne's page reads like it was written with a trade business in mind. The entry bar is an operating company with 20 or more full-timers on a U.S. W-2 payroll and three years of trading. Its wanted list takes in service histories, jobs, dispatch, calendars, invoices, estimates and transaction history. Typical partnerships, it says, come to $100K and up, and records are de-identified before release.
micro1
micro1 wants established firms of 30 or more full-time staff, mostly English-language records, and sees most demand from the U.S., UK and Canada. Operations records, SOPs, process documents, support logs and CRM history are all on its list. Three tiers are printed: $100K–$500K, $500K–$3M and $3M+. Payment is promised in full inside 30 days of acceptance, and the underlying data stays the company's property.
Scale AI
Scale AI would rather start at 40 employees but looks at smaller firms one at a time, and it wants mature data systems and genuine day-to-day workflows. Its range, $10K to $1M+ a partnership, climbs with delivery frequency, and Scale is careful to call it illustrative. Cleanup happens on your systems before extraction, and no employee or customer identities are taken.
Labelbox Prism
Prism sets no headcount. Long-running customer support histories are among what it licenses, ideally from busy consumer-facing companies. A small, targeted set starts near $50K. Sellers get a fee on signing and then a cut of downstream revenue, and the default license is exclusive.
In 2026 The Information put a number on it for this trade: roughly $150,000 per HVAC firm, with data labeling startups such as micro1 doing the paying.
Pages this is checked against
- Nyne: Sell company data; opened for this HVAC guide on 7 Nov 2026
- micro1: Company data partnerships; opened for this HVAC guide on 7 Nov 2026
- Scale AI: Data Partnership; opened for this HVAC guide on 7 Nov 2026
- Labelbox: Prism; opened for this HVAC guide on 7 Nov 2026
- micro1: Company referral terms; opened for this HVAC guide on 7 Nov 2026
- micro1 forum: referral program announcement of 16 June 2026; opened for this HVAC guide on 7 Nov 2026
- The Information: Stephanie Palazzolo on data labeling startups paying HVAC firms (2026 report, day and month not visible); opened for this HVAC guide on 7 Nov 2026
What changed in the buyers' terms?
A dated record of changes we have seen on the buyers' own pages.
- 7 Nov 2026: micro1 has raised the headline on its data page to $100K–$3M+. Its company referral terms have moved too: it now pays $50,000 per signed company where the deal is $700,000 or less, and 7.5% where it is bigger, where its 16 June 2026 announcement offered up to $25,000 a company. micro1 does not say when either change was made.
- 7 Nov 2026: Opening entry: each buyer page cited on this site read in full for the first time.
Questions owners ask
- Which buyer is the best fit for an HVAC contractor?
- On paper, Nyne. Its list reads like a field service database: service histories, jobs, dispatch, calendars, invoices and estimates. micro1 and Scale AI set higher headcounts and talk about operational and CRM records in broader terms.
- Do these buyers want residential or commercial work?
- None of them says. They describe record types, not customer types. The nearest thing is Prism, which leans toward busy consumer-facing businesses for support histories; a residential shop with a full call center fits that.
- Can I license the same records to two buyers?
- Only if your agreements allow it. Prism starts from exclusivity. micro1’s page claims no exclusive rights for itself. Nyne and Scale AI are silent on the point.
- What about Mercor and other buyers?
- Other companies buy operational data too. We list only buyers whose own pages we could read and whose terms are published. Mercor runs a data program too, but its own pages could not be opened when we last looked, so its terms are left off.
- Why do some buyers pay referral fees?
- Because finding the right companies is slow work for them. micro1 and Scale AI reward the introducer once a referred company signs. The money comes from the buyer; that is how this site earns, and contractors are not charged.
More from the file
- What it is worthWhich published tiers fit your headcount
- What counts in an HVAC businessThe records buyers ask about
- Exporting from field service softwareBefore you promise a buyer anything
- Customer privacyWhat comes out before anything leaves