Donut Lab

Donut Lab OÜ
Company typePrivate limited company (osaühing)
IndustryTechnology
FoundedAugust 2024 (2024-08)
FounderMarko Lehtimäki
Owners
  • Donut Group Oy (50%)
  • Donut Holding Oy (50%)
Websitewww.donutlab.com

Donut Lab OÜ is a Finnish technology company, with its headquarters in Estonia. Founded in 2024, Donut Lab is owned by the Finnish companies Donut Group Oy (50%) and Donut Holding Oy (50%).[1] Donut Lab was spun off from the Finnish company Verge Motorcycles to promote its wheel hub motors.[2]

Donut Lab announced in January 2026 that its solid-state battery, Donut Battery, is being used in motorcycles that will ship to customers in the first quarter of 2026, that the battery is available to OEMs for production immediately,[3] and that the company is already manufacturing batteries at gigawatt-hour per year production scale.[4] Verge CEO estimated in February 2026 that delivery will start in April 2026.[5]

Founding

Verge Motorcycles

Verge Motorcycles was founded in Seinäjoki, Finland, in 2018. The company's founding investors include founder Tuomo Lehtimäki, Marko Lehtimäki, Ville Piippo, Henri Vähäkainu, Vaasa Martti Ehrnrooth, and Ismo Aukee.[6] The company has delivered under 100 electric motorcycles since its founding until February 2026.[5]

Reviews of the original Verge TS Pro motorcycle highlight the motor's torque and unique look and the motorcycle's long city-driving range, but criticize the sluggish handling and price.[7][8] In response to customer feedback, the 2026 model was designed with updated suspension and shock absorbers, an adjusted steering angle, and a motor that is half the weight of its predecessor while keeping the same power and torque.[9]

Verge Motorcycles reported a net income of €1M and a net loss of €10M in 2024, and a net income of €0.1M and a net loss of €9M in 2023.[10] PwC, the auditor hired to audit the company's financial reports in Estonia for 2024, reported they could not complete their audit because the company lacks almost all financial information on inventory management, sales receipts, research expenditure, and property values. The Estonian subsidiary has no cash and depends on loans from its Finnish parent company, its management, and their relatives. The company's continued operations depend on business negotiations that are not yet binding.[11]

Donut Lab

Donut Lab was founded in August 2024 as a spin-off company by Verge Motorcycles.[12] The company was founded by Marko Lehtimäki, who previously served as Chief Technology Officer of Verge Motorcycles.[13] Prior to becoming separate entities in August 2024, Verge Motorcycles and Donut Lab raised 15 million euro in 2024.[14] Donut Lab raised 25 million euro in a seed funding round in July 2025.[12]

Wheel hub motor

Donut Lab promotes the wheel hub motor developed by Verge Motorcycles. The motor integrates directly into the vehicle's tire assembly, eliminating the need for a traditional transmission. The motor takes its name from its toroid donut-like shape.[2]

At the 2026 CES, the company unveiled several motor designs, among them a 21-inch 40 kg (88 lb) motor designed for delivering 630 kW (840 hp) of power and 4,300 N⋅m (3,200 lbf⋅ft) of torque, and a 17-inch 21 kg (46 lb) motor designed for 150 kW (200 hp) and 1,200 N⋅m (890 lbf⋅ft).[2]

Vehicle development software

Donut Lab promotes DonutOS, a vehicle development system which includes vehicle design and simulation.[15]

Solid-state battery

Donut Lab introduced its solid-state battery, Donut Battery, at the 2026 CES. The CEO stated the battery contains no lithium,[16] is capable of 400 Wh/kg (180 Wh/lb) energy density, undergoing 100,000 charge cycles at 5C, fully charging in five minutes, operating in temperatures from −30 to 100 °C or −30 to 200 °F, and it is priced lower than current automotive lithium-ion batteries.[17][18] The CEO announced the battery is being used in motorcycles that will ship to customers in the first quarter of 2026, that the battery is available to OEMs for production immediately,[3] and that the company is already manufacturing batteries at gigawatt-hour per year production scale.[4]

Criticism

Donut Lab's battery claims have attracted widespread criticism from experts in the battery industry and financial industry.[19]

Ulderico Ulissi, head of off-China operations of battery manufacturer CATL, said the announced claims about the Donut Battery are clearly fake.[13] Yang Hongxin, CEO of battery manufacturer SVOLT, said a battery with those technical details does not exist and called it a scam.[20] Professors and researchers from several universities cast doubt about the announced specifications[18][21][22] and cautioned to wait for evidence.[22]

Finnish investor and columnist Aki Pyysing placed Donut Lab in the group "direct bullshit" in his Sijoitustieto.fi column in January 2026 and called Lehtimäki a snake oil trader. He wrote that three individual investors told him that Donut Lab shares were offered to them, and wondered why Donut Lab would approach small independent investors instead of large institutional investors.[23] The newspaper Helsingin Sanomat published claims that Donut Lab contacted individual Finnish investors and promised return on investment in the hundreds of percent within a few months.[22] The Finnish Broadcasting Company published an investor pamphlet by Donut Lab touting tenfold returns within 18 months.[24]

Evidence

At the battery's unveiling in January 2026, no independent testing was given in support of the claims presented. The company presented mockups in place of actual batteries.[25] When questioned by journalists in January 2026, the company has not disclosed the location of its battery production factory.[26] The CEO of Donut Lab said they are already capable of gigawatt-hour yearly production in January 2026.[27]

The CEO of Donut Lab said in a video released on 20 February 2026 that VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland had been hired to conduct independent testing of the battery.[22] Donut Lab chose to gradually release the information over several months instead of releasing it immediately so the company can "control the narrative".[22]

Battery researchers and engineers analyzing the published VTT results found they are consistent with results for currently-available Li-NMC battery cells, and the voltage curve strongly indicates the device chemistry is Li-NMC.[28][29][30] The capacity degradation at 11C indicates the battery reaches 70% of its original capacity after 30-50 such cycles.[31] There is consensus among solid-state battery experts that the results from the first two sets of tests performed by VTT for Donut Lab are meaningless in terms of commercial use, as they do not test capacity fade and pack-level performance.[32]

References

  1. ^ Marttinen, Mikko; Volkova, Polina (9 January 2026). "Suomalaisyrittäjän ihmekeksintö herättää epäilyksiä – sama mies julisti kehittäneensä supertekoälyn" [Finnish entrepreneur's miracle invention raises suspicions – the same man previously claimed to have developed super AI]. Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 23 February 2026.
  2. ^ a b c Nikkola, Joni (2026-01-09), "Suomalaisyritys esitteli "donitsimoottorien" perheen – "uskomme, että nämä moottorit tulevat muuttamaan koko alan"", Tekniikan Maailma, retrieved 2026-01-12
  3. ^ a b Donut Labs (2026-01-05), World's First All-Solid-State Battery in Production Vehicles | Donut Battery – via YouTube
  4. ^ a b Elijah Nicholson-Messmer (2026-01-26), "The First Production-Ready Solid-State Battery Promises 5-Minute Charging", autoblog
  5. ^ a b Max Lange (2026-04-02), "Vergen moottoripyörien toimitusaika venähti – Näin kommentoi toimitusjohtaja", Kauppalehti
  6. ^ "Sähkömoottoripyöriä tekevän Verge Motorcyclesin sijoittajat suhtautuvat intohimoisesti moottoriurheiluun", Suomen Yrittäjät, retrieved 2026-01-27
  7. ^ Troy Siahaan (2024-06-20), "2024 Verge TS Pro Electric Motorcycle Review – Quick Ride", Motorcycle.com
  8. ^ Don Williams (2024-06-22), "2024 Verge TS Pro Review [90-Minute Electric Motorcycle Test]", Ultimate Motorcycling
  9. ^ Rennie Scaysbrook (2025-11-04), "Verge introduces updated TS Pro at EICMA", Cycle News
  10. ^ "Verge Motorcycles OÜ (16535648)", E-Business Register
  11. ^ Ville Kolari (2026-01-19), "Donut Labin ihmeakun lanseeraukseen liittyvän Verge Motorcyclesin tilintarkastus paljasti kaaoksen", Yle
  12. ^ a b "Finnish startup lands €25 million seed to expand modular EV component platform", Arctic Startup, 2025-07-25, retrieved 2026-01-27
  13. ^ a b "Maailman suurimman akkuvalmistajan johtaja syyttää Donut Labia huijauksesta", Iltalehti, retrieved 2026-01-27
  14. ^ "Teknologiayhtiö Donut Lab vahvistaa osaajajoukkoaan: Risto Siilasmaa mukaan hallitukseen", STT Info, retrieved 2026-01-27
  15. ^ "Donut Lab esitteli Slushissa uuden ohjelmistoalustan", Uusiteknologia, 2025-11-20, retrieved 2026-01-12
  16. ^ The Electric Duo (Patrick & Liv) (2026-01-07), EV Battery Breakthrough| Donut Lab Solid-State Battery & CEO interview| – via YouTube
  17. ^ Steve Sheridan (2026-01-11), CES 2026: Donut Lab Solid State Battery & Motor Integrated into Verge Motorcycle – via YouTube
  18. ^ a b "Suomalainen yritys julkaisi maailmaa mullistavan keksinnön – Asiantuntija tutustui ja pitää lupauksia epärealistisina", Iltalehti, retrieved 2026-01-27
  19. ^ Carlos González (2026-02-27), "Los primeros datos reales de la batería de Donut Labs no demuestran lo que prometen", TestCoches.es
  20. ^ "Kritiikki Donut Labia kohtaan yltyy – "Kuka tahansa perustiedot omaava teknikko tunnistaa huijaukseksi"", Kauppalehti, retrieved 2026-01-27
  21. ^ "Suomalainen startup väittää keksineensä superakun – professori tyrmistyi lupauksista: "Rikkoisi fysiikan periaatteita"", Yle, retrieved 2026-01-27
  22. ^ a b c d e Storås, Niclas (2026-02-20), ""Ei, tämä ei ole huijaus" – Suomalaistaustainen Donut Lab on julkistanut uuden videon mullistavasta mysteeriakustaan", Helsingin Sanomat, retrieved 2026-02-20
  23. ^ Pyysing, Aki, "Käärmeöljykauppiaiden kevät", Sijoitustieto, retrieved 2026-01-27
  24. ^ Jyri Hänninen (2026-02-25), "Tämä on ihan mieletöntä! Luottamukselliset viestit näyttävät akkufirma Donut Labin hurjat lupaukset sijoittajille", Yle
  25. ^ Novella, Steven, "Is Donut Lab's Solid State Battery Legit?", NeuroLogica Blog, retrieved 2026-01-27
  26. ^ "Missä se Donut Labin akkutehdas oikein piileskelee? – "Emme kommentoi"", Tekniikan Maailma, retrieved 2026-01-27
  27. ^ Steve Sheridan, "CES 2026: Donut Lab Solid State Battery & Motor Integrated into Verge Motorcycle", YouTube
  28. ^ Andy Turudic (2026-02-23), "VTT Report on Donut Lab's Solid-State Battery is a Nothingburger", Electronic Design
  29. ^ Ziroth (2026-02-24), Testing The World's First Solid-State Battery – via YouTube
  30. ^ Electric Classic Cars and Plug Life Television (2026-03-09), Is the new solid state battery from Donut Lab the end of petrol? – via YouTube
  31. ^ Christoph M. Schwarzer (2026-03-03), "Donut-Batterie: Finnisches Start-up verspricht Wunder", Heise Auto
  32. ^ Suvrat Kothari (2026-03-03), "What Donut Lab's Latest Solid-State EV Battery Test Actually Reveals", InsideEVs
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