Born on 26th August 1982, Yanni Hufnagel is a globally known American businessman, former basketball coach, and the founder and Chief Executive of Lemon Perfect. He grew up in Scarsdale, New York, and attenuated Scarsdale High School, where he played lacrosse.
He was later accepted to Pennsylvania State University and joined the lacrosse team. He, however, transferred to Cornell University and became its men’s basketball team student manager.
He graduated in 2006 with a bachelor of science degree and landed an internship as the New Jersey Nets assistant coach. After some time, he joined the University of Oklahoma for a master’s program and became the men’s basketball team graduate assistant coach.
Yanni Hufnagel developed his coaching career in coaching teams like the Harvard Crimson, Vanderbilt Commodores, Nevada Wolf Pack, and California Golden Bears. He worked alongside well-known coaches like Tommy Amaker, Blake Griffin, Kevin Stallings, Eric Musslemanand Cuonzo Martin.
Hufnagel once spotted his players drinking Bai during breaks, which gave him the idea to create lemon water with a similar foundation to Bai but with more flavor and nutritional plus hydrational values.
This led him to found Lemon Perfect, an Atlanta-based enhanced water company, in 2017. This was after his coaching career at the University of Nevada. The lemon water is made from organically grown lemons and contains no sugars, artificial sweeteners, or flavors.
This gives it a great taste and super refreshing characteristic. It is also packed with potassium, electrolytes, and vitamin C to keep athletes hydrated and energized for longer. Throughout the years, the brand has expanded and includes flavors like Dragon Fruit Mango, Blueberry Acai, Just Lemon, and Peach Raspberry.
Read more about Yanni on golden.com.
While the brand had been doing well, its popularity shot after Beyonce posted a photo with the Dragon Fruit Mango in her car in January 2020. Yanni Hufnagel said his phone blew up afterward, and he learned she was a fan of his brand.
In 2020, Lemon Perfect received funding of $11.6 million from investors like Kyle Kuzma, Blake Griffin, Lindsay Gottlieb, Spenser Bidwiddie, and Nick Young.
In April 2022, they conducted another series A funding round, raising over $30 million. Some investors for that funding round included Beyonce, NNS Capital, and Beechwood Capital. The two funding rounds raised $42.2 million and increased the company’s total valuation to $100 million.