Against the backdrop of the deep integration of the digital economy and the real economy, new quality productive forces are being cultivated at an accelerated pace. The data factor has become a core factor of production driving industrial upgrading and high-quality economic development. Data assetization is regarded as a critical pathway for transforming data resources into factors of production and for realizing a closed value loop. It serves as core strategic support for advancing the in-depth development of the digital economy, empowering enterprise innovation and upgrading, and fostering new quality productive forces. Based on data from A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2011 to 2021, "specialized, refined, distinctive and innovative" enterprises were taken as the research subjects. A quantitative analysis was conducted on the impact of corporate data assetization on innovation output and its underlying mechanisms. A significant enhancement of innovation output was observed as a result of data assetization. This conclusion remained valid after a series of robustness checks, including endogeneity treatment and core variable replacement. Two channels were identified through which data assetization improves innovation output: the alleviation of financing constraints and technological empowerment. A significant boundary difference was found in this innovation incentive effect through further heterogeneity analysis. The effect was more pronounced in non-state-owned enterprises and in regions with higher levels of fintech development. The relevant literature on the economic effects of data factors and enterprise innovation was enriched by these findings. Solid empirical evidence and decision-making references were provided for the government to advance the market-oriented reform of data factors, as well as for enterprises to unlock the value of data assets to foster new quality productive forces.