Oilstainlab plans its first customer deliveries in 2027 as the startup bets that its Thunder-Volt platform can win over driving enthusiasts and open new revenue opportunities with global automakers.
Two brothers who helped design vehicles for Toyota, General Motors, Honda, Lexus, and other global automakers have secured fresh funding for the startup they hope will carve out a place in the next generation of high-performance vehicles.
California-based Oilstainlab has completed the first closing of its Series A financing round, giving the company new capital to begin production of its HF-11 hypercar, expand commercialization of its Thunder-Volt propulsion platform, and prepare for its first customer deliveries in 2027. The company said it had completed the first closing of its Series A financing round and is continuing to raise capital.
Unlike many automotive startups focused solely on building vehicles, Oilstainlab is building a business around the technology beneath them. Its Thunder-Volt platform is intended to support both the company’s own hypercars and future partnerships with established automakers, creating two potential revenue streams as it moves toward production.
The investment comes at a time when performance car startups face growing pressure to prove they can move beyond concept vehicles and into production. Several electric vehicle startups that raised billions of dollars during the past decade have struggled to reach commercial production, leaving investors increasingly focused on experienced founders and technologies with broader commercial potential.
Oilstainlab believes it has both. Rather than building another electric hypercar, the company has developed a platform that gives buyers a choice between a naturally aspirated gasoline flat-six engine and an electric drivetrain built around the same vehicle architecture.
From designing millions of vehicles to building one of their own
Twin brothers Iliya and Nikita Bridan founded Oilstainlab in Los Angeles in 2018 after spending more than a decade designing vehicles and mobility programs for some of the automotive industry’s largest manufacturers. Across their careers, the brothers contributed to millions of production vehicles, earned 13 patents, and received multiple industry awards, including Motor Trend’s SUV of the Year recognition.
Their route into automotive design was unconventional.
Oilstainlab founders: Nikita and Iliya Bridan
Born in Ukraine and raised in Canada, the brothers credit the Gran Turismo racing game with sparking their fascination with cars. They left high school at age 14 to pursue transportation design, later earning degrees from the Istituto Europeo di Design in Italy and ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena before joining major automakers.
After helping develop vehicles for established brands, they decided to create the type of performance car they believed had disappeared from the market.
The HF-11 blends old-school driving with a modular platform
The result is the HF-11, a limited-production hypercar built around what Oilstainlab calls its Thunder-Volt platform.
Instead of committing customers to a single propulsion system, the company engineered the vehicle to be configured with either a naturally aspirated flat-six gasoline engine or an electric drivetrain. Oilstainlab says the approach allows enthusiasts to choose the driving experience they prefer without altering the vehicle’s underlying architecture.
The HF-11 features a bespoke carbon-fiber monocoque developed over more than 15,000 engineering hours. In its gasoline configuration, the company says the car produces up to 650 horsepower, revs to 12,000 rpm, and can exceed 200 miles per hour. Production will be limited to 25 vehicles worldwide, including 11 examples reserved for the highest-specification “Maniac” edition.
The company’s earlier Half-11 concept helped establish its reputation among automotive enthusiasts. Inspired by endurance race cars from the late 1960s, the concept debuted publicly at the 2024 Goodwood Festival of Speed and drew attention for its unconventional styling and lightweight construction.
The larger opportunity may lie beyond the HF-11
The production car is only part of Oilstainlab’s strategy.
The company says it has already signed multiple business-to-business agreements to provide powertrain, platform, and component technologies to global automotive manufacturers. If those partnerships expand, licensing technology could become a meaningful source of future revenue alongside sales of its limited-production vehicles.
Mavka Capital, a Silicon Valley investment banking firm focused on mobility and industrial technology, served as Oilstainlab’s exclusive financial advisor for the Series A financing.
“The HF-11 delivers what automotive enthusiasts have been asking for in EV hypercars for years, while Thunder-Volt has the potential to power the entire next generation of sports cars, for OEMs from specialty to production scale.”
Vitaly Golomb, managing partner at Mavka Capital, made the comments in a statement announcing the financing.
Oilstainlab says proceeds from the financing will fund production of the HF-11, accelerate commercialization of the Thunder-Volt platform, and support continued work with automotive manufacturers. Customer orders opened in 2025, and the company expects its first deliveries in 2027. The startup plans to continue raising capital as it moves from prototype testing to production, with first customer deliveries scheduled for 2027.
