Donut
Its lending partner froze withdrawals; three months later it closed
A mobile savings app from Los Angeles and Berlin that put users' dollars into DeFi lending for yields it advertised at 4 to 10 percent.
- Capital raised (announced)
Recorded announced backing; this is separate from cash received, customer deposits and money recovered.
Funding
| Round | Date | Announced | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 2021 round | 2021 |
Announced is what was said at the time. Cash actually received is rarely disclosed and is not assumed to match.
People
| Name | Role | Period | Now | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neel Popat | — | Building @popcorn, a next-gen telco | Oct 2026 |
Timeline
September 2020
The company said its early users and assets had grown about 40 percent a month since the release.
22 June 2021
The company described plans to grow and work on the product before further fundraising.
16 November 2022
This morning, Donut’s principal lending partner, Genesis, paused withdrawals along with new loan originations. Here’s what that means for Donut users:
20 January 2023
17 February 2023
The Term Sheet has been filed and made public. This milestone represents the culmination of an effort, in which we heavily advocated for a best recovery outcome for you, Donut users. As for Donut, it marks the time for us to take our apron off.
30 August 2024
The deadline for all users to complete their withdrawals is August 31st. For any account with an outstanding balance after this date, we will issue a digital or physical check using the information on file. As of today, we are also retiring our X and Instagram accounts.
How it ended
Donut's savings product depended on Genesis, which it called its principal lending partner. Genesis paused withdrawals in November 2022 and filed for bankruptcy two months later with Donut among its largest named creditors. Once a term sheet between Genesis and its creditors was filed in February 2023, Donut said it was closing; it went on processing user withdrawals until a final deadline of 31 August 2024.
What happened next
- Regulatory action23 March 2023
The Department of Financial Protection and Innovation lists the order against Donut, Inc. and Neel Popat.
- Aftermath30 August 2024
Still alive
Open spot
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Sources
9 sources behind this page.
- 1Donut, Inc. dba Donut App, Inc. (enforcement action) · California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation · Mar 2023
- 2Gemini, Hedge Funds, and a DeFi App: Bankrupt Genesis Reveals List of Creditors · Decrypt · Jan 2023
- 3Neel Popat (@theneelpopat) account record · Neel Popat on X (account id 3886740496), retrieved via twitterapi.io
- 4Donut Raises $2 Million to Bring DeFi Mainstream · PR Newswire (press release issued by Donut) · Jun 2021
- 5X account lookup: @donutapp · twitterapi.io (X data provider)
- 6X post by @donutapp, 16 November 2022 · twitterapi.io (X data provider) · Nov 2022
- 7X post by @donutapp, 30 August 2024 · twitterapi.io (X data provider) · Aug 2024
- 8X search: @donutapp posts, 16-19 February 2023 · twitterapi.io (X data provider)
- 9Search of Donut and @theneelpopat posts naming each other, 2021 to May 2022 · X, retrieved via twitterapi.io
Every figure above is clickable and opens the sources behind it. Copies were stored when each source was read, so a citation still resolves after the page it came from is gone.