When you hear the name ‘Donut Lab,’ you probably picture a new-age bakery with artisanal glazes and a queue of hipsters out the door. You’d be wrong. Deliciously, powerfully wrong. This Helsinki-based tech pioneer isn’t making breakfast; it’s making the future of propulsion, and it just scooped up a cool €25 million to turbocharge its global takeover.
Forget everything you know about traditional EV architecture. Donut Lab’s game-changing creation is an in-wheel motor that crams maximum torque and power into a lightweight design, effectively making traditional drivetrains and all their heavy, complicated components obsolete.
But they’re not just selling motors. They’re offering the whole buffet with their ‘Donut Platform’, a full-stack, modular system with battery modules, computer units, and vehicle control software. It’s essentially a plug-and-play kit for building an EV, designed for everything from tiny scooters to heavy-duty trucks, and even stuff that flies or floats.
Of course, a plan this audacious requires some serious brainpower. To that end, Donut Lab has been on a hiring spree that reads like a who’s who of European innovation. They’ve poached Neil Patterson, a veteran of McLaren, Lotus, and Aston Martin, to be their VP of Engineering. Craig Williams has been lured away from BMW and Rivian to head up Business Development. And for good measure, they’ve added Risto Siilasmaa, the former Chairman of Nokia, to the Board of Directors—presumably to ensure their tech is as unbreakable as his old phones.
This isn’t some far-fetched concept, either. The revolution is already underway. Following a wildly successful launch at CES in Las Vegas that saw demand for their tech increase a staggering 30-fold, the company has already signed more than ten commercial contracts with global OEMs.
While they’re keeping the names under wraps, it confirms their tech is officially being integrated into next-generation products across the automotive, marine, aerospace, and defence sectors. To keep up, they’ve even established a new R&D facility in Chippenham, UK, to work alongside their teams in Helsinki and Tallin.
CEO Marko Lehtimaki is, unsurprisingly, bullish. “The continued growth… demonstrates to us founders what we have always believed, that our tech solution is truly groundbreaking,” he said. He calls the combination of performance, robustness, versatility, and relatively low cost a “winning formula.” You don’t say, Marko.
Donut Lab is set to return to Las Vegas for CES 2026, where they promise an even bigger showcase of new applications, tech breakthroughs, and partners. Keep an eye out. The Finns are coming, and they’re bringing donuts. Just not the kind you can eat.
