Lemon Perfect, the cold-pressed lemon water brand, has raised $6.6 million in a new funding round.
The new round brings the California-based enhanced water startup’s total funding to $11.6 million to date.
“The early investor enthusiasm for Lemon Perfect has been energizing and humbling,” said Yanni Hufnagel, Lemon Perfect’s founder and CEO. “The brand is resonating broadly across multiple demographics, and that diversity is well represented by our investors.”
Leading consumer products funds that participated in the financing include Beechwood Capital, The Big Squeeze, Goat Rodeo Capital, LivWell Ventures, Melitas Ventures, R3 Venture Partners, the RCV Frontline Fund, the Stage 1 Fund, and Skyview Capital.
“We are extremely excited to be partnering with Yanni,” said Alex Soltani, Skyview Capital’s chairman and CEO. “Lemon Perfect has that winning combination that is so difficult to find: an incredible product, an amazing team and a massive market opportunity.”
Other notable investors include Barak Bar-Cohen (former COO, Bai Brands), Lindsay Gottlieb (Cleveland Cavaliers), Prakash Janakiraman (Nextdoor), Michael Levine (Creative Artists Agency), Cuonzo Martin (Missouri Tigers), Jordan Schultz (ESPN), NBA champions Channing Frye and Nick “Swaggy P” Young, and current NBA players Spencer Dinwiddie, Blake Griffin, Josh Hart, Damian Jones, Kyle Kuzma, Meyers Leonard, and De’Anthony Melton.
The company has announced that the proceeds from the capital raise will be used to fund distribution growth, increase marketing support and recruit key talent. In February, the company announced a key distribution deal with New York’s Big Geyser, one of the country’s largest distributors of non-alcoholic beverages and snacks.
“The beverage landscape is dynamic,” Hufnagel notes. “On-trend, well-packaged and inclusive emerging brands will become the iconic brands of tomorrow. Our goal at Lemon Perfect is to be at the forefront of the better-for-you, for everyone movement by building products that meet at the intersection of flavor and good-for-you. That so many tastemakers and industry insiders share our vision of disrupting an American beverage ecosystem still largely dominated by high-calorie, high-sugar options are very motivating.”
“The brand looks, tastes and feels like a billion-dollar brand,” said Jerry Reda, Big Geyser’s COO. “I have never witnessed a brand garner the consumer acceptance that Lemon Perfect has in such a short time,” continued Reda.
Lemon Perfect is available on Amazon and in about 3,000 stores largely concentrated in the Northeast, Southeast and Southern California including 7-Eleven, CVS, Publix, Ralphs, Target, and Whole Foods Market.
Photo courtesy Lemon Perfect
