The DONUT

What The DONUT does

The DONUT, operating as Donut News Inc., is an Austin, Texas-based newsletter media company founded in 2019 that delivers nonpartisan, jargon-free daily news to Gen Z and Millennial audiences via email and SMS. Its core product is a free daily newsletter that aggregates and curates stories from over 100 publications, applying a proprietary editorial methodology: a 3-step review process, internal cross-ideological debate, and "intersection point" verification where 4+ sources from across the political spectrum agree on a fact. The product portfolio has expanded beyond news to include the DONUT Games Newsletter (weekly puzzles, trivia, and competitive rankings), Positive DONUT (uplifting weekly content), and interactive Discussion Features with multi-perspective framing and flash polls.

The underlying platform combines a multi-source news aggregation system with a web-based interactive engagement layer (games with leaderboards, polls, discussion articles). All content is delivered free to readers, with the company monetizing through advertising and brand sponsorships, plus affiliate merchandise sales via a separate Shopify store. The marketing and distribution model is product-led and community-led: organic growth through word-of-mouth, social sharing, and direct newsletter subscriptions. As of 2024, the company had grown to 1.3M+ email subscribers and 175,000+ SMS subscribers, with a notably affluent readership (43% with net worth of $2M+ and 68% aged 18-44).

In August 2024, The DONUT was acquired by Atlanta-based Press Sports, an athlete-focused platform with 450,000 members, creating a combined media entity reaching 12.4 million readers. The strategic intent is to build a new media company targeting younger demographics through the integration of sports content and newsletter audiences. The company is privately held and operates with a lean team of 1-10 employees.

Name

The DONUT

Legal name

Donut News Inc.

Website

https://thedonut.co

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The DONUT is an Austin-based newsletter media company delivering free, nonpartisan daily news to Gen Z and Millennial audiences via email and SMS, reaching 1.5M+ subscribers. Monetized through advertising and sponsorships, it was acquired by Press Sports in August 2024.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Austin

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Advertising and sponsorships: Ad-supported model where The DONUT delivers news for free while monetizing through brand partnerships and sponsored content within newsletters. The company emphasizes that serving readers comes first, with revenue growing through habitual readers rather than traffic-driven sensationalism.
2. Affiliate merchandise sales: Sale of branded merchandise including t-shirts and sweatshirts through a separate Shopify store, generating additional revenue from the brand loyalist audience.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The DONUT is a digital media company that produces and distributes free, nonpartisan daily newsletters via email and SMS to 1.3M+ email and 175K+ SMS subscribers. It aggregates news from 100+ publications, applies a 3-step editorial review and intersection-point verification process, and delivers 3-4 minute witty, jargon-free news updates across politics, business, sports, and entertainment. The portfolio includes the core daily newsletter plus sub-brands Positive DONUT (uplifting stories) and DONUT Games Newsletter (puzzles, trivia, interactive games).

Product overview

The DONUT is a media company operating a portfolio of newsletters and interactive digital content products. The core offering is The DONUT Daily Newsletter, a nonpartisan news platform delivering free, impartial news via email and SMS to over 175,000+ subscribers. The portfolio includes two specialized newsletter variants: the DONUT Games Newsletter featuring puzzles, trivia, and competitive gaming content; and Positive DONUT focused on uplifting stories. Additional products include interactive Discussion articles with multi-perspective coverage and flash polls, plus web-based interactive games with leaderboards. All content is ad-supported and free to readers, with monetization through brand partnerships and sponsorships.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• The Donut Games Newsletter: A games-focused newsletter variant featuring puzzles, trivia, and interactive content.
• Positive DONUT

Products and services

• The DONUT (Daily Newsletter) The flagship daily newsletter delivering nonpartisan, fast, jargon-free news updates via email and SMS to 1.3M+ email and 175K+ SMS subscribers. Covers DC to Wall Street to Silicon Valley across politics, business, sports, and entertainment in a 3-4 minute read.
• DONUT Games Newsletter
• Positive DONUT A weekly positive news newsletter delivering inspiring, uplifting stories, community win celebrations, and mindfulness content, sent on Tuesdays to provide readers with a counterweight to negative news cycles.
• Discussion Features Interactive discussion articles on current events that present multiple perspectives side-by-side (Sprinkles from the Left and Sprinkles from the Right), combined with flash polls and community engagement features.
• DONUT Games & Interactive Features Web-based interactive games with leaderboards, word games, and puzzle features offered free through thedonut.co to drive reader engagement and habit formation.

Quantifiable outcome

• 3M+ brand uplift for partners during a recent test
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Morning Brew: Morning Brew is a daily business and news newsletter targeting young professionals, sold to Business Insider in 2020. It is one of the most direct comparables given its newsletter-first distribution, Gen Z/Millennial audience, and ad-supported monetization.
• The Hustle: The Hustle is a daily newsletter covering business and tech news for younger readers, acquired by HubSpot. Highly comparable to The DONUT in format (daily newsletter), audience (Gen Z/Millennial), and ad-supported revenue model.
• Axios: Axios is a digital news publisher known for its Smart Brevity newsletter format and policy/business coverage. Comparable to The DONUT's nonpartisan, concise newsletter approach and email-first distribution.
• The Information: The Information is a subscription tech and business newsletter targeting engaged professionals. Comparable as a high-quality daily newsletter brand monetizing an affluent readership, though it uses a paid model versus The DONUT's free model.
• Politico: Politico is a political journalism outlet with strong newsletter products (Playbook). Comparable to The DONUT's political coverage and nonpartisan positioning toward engaged news consumers.
• The Daily Beast: The Daily Beast is a digital news publisher covering politics, culture, and current events with a focus on engaging younger readers. Comparable audience overlap and free, ad-supported distribution model.

Emerging players

• Substack: Substack is a newsletter publishing platform that powers thousands of independent writers. Comparable as a newsletter infrastructure and distribution peer even though The DONUT is a brand-led publisher rather than a platform.
• beehiiv: beehiiv is a newsletter operating system that helps creators and brands launch and monetize newsletters. Comparable as adjacent infrastructure in the newsletter media stack where The DONUT operates.

Broad incumbents

• Bloomberg Media: Bloomberg is a broad incumbent in financial and general news with extensive newsletter products and substantial advertising reach. Comparable as a large-scale news and newsletter operator monetizing affluent readers, though much broader in scope.
• The New York Times: The New York Times operates flagship newsletters (Morning, DealBook) reaching millions of engaged, affluent readers. Comparable as an established newsletter operator monetizing premium audience attention, though with paid subscriptions rather than free distribution.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/donutdailynews
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-donut

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The DONUT