Yanni Hufnagel
In 2020, Yanni Hufnagel, CEO of Lemon Perfect, had no idea his company’s refreshing lemon water product would explode in popularity. Hufnagel predicts that by 2022, retail sales for Lemon Perfect will reach $60 million, up from $25 million in 2021. In 2021, Lemon Perfect saw quadrupling its revenue to $21 million. He also believes that this year the company’s revenue will increase by more than twice what it is now. As a result of the company’s growth, the number of employees has increased to 70. Compared to a year ago, this is a significant increase from the meager total of 38.
Hufnagel founded the company in 2017 and relocated its headquarters from Reno, where he had been coaching college basketball, to Atlanta. The owner of the store Hufnagel frequented sent him a proposal for a journal he was composing about the ketogenic diet after an unexpected run-in with the owner, who aspired to become a coach. There were lemonade recipes in there. Hufnagel was motivated to create a healthier alternative to Bai after observing his basketball team’s beverage consumption in the locker room. The multimillion-dollar enhanced water category was next on his list, as he saw it as ripe for disruption.
Lemon Perfect needs to be better than other drinks on the market, like Bai, Vitamin Water, and Hint, to succeed now. Dragon Fruit Mango, Beyoncé’s favorite flavor, is among the options, along with Just Lemon, Blueberry Acai, and Peach Raspberry. According to Yanni Hufnagel, the $20.5 million in Series A funding announced today comprises a $16.5 million initial round and a $14 million extension. Lemon Perfect’s current valuation of over $100 million is largely thanks to the $42.2 million it has garnered in fundraising thus far.
While the company did a round of investment just two years ago, the primary goal of this new round of funding was clear: growth. Hufnagel will require a sizable field sales force to realize his vision of taking the brand to more than 40,000 points of sales by the end of 2022. The company sells its products through its website, Amazon, and a wide variety of brick-and-mortar and online shops across the nation, including Mariano’s, Fred Meyer, and Publix. Lemon Perfect will also hit the shelves at Costco this summer.