Lemon Perfect, a Beyoncé-Backed Hydration Company, Raises Nearly $37 Million in Latest Funding Round

Founded in 2017, Lemon Perfect has quickly become a popular enhanced beverage player. With a recent valuation above $150 million, is the company the next big CPG play?

Lemon Perfect, a beverage brand that’s a natural twist on lemonade without the sugar, recently raised nearly $37 million in its latest funding round. The company has been backed by artist Beyoncé Knowles-Carter and institutions like Skyview Capital, Beechwood Capital, Melitas Ventures, LivWell Ventures, Riverside Ventures, and RCV Frontline.

Yanni Hufnagel, founder and CEO, confirmed an SEC filing that the Atlanta, GA-based company raised another $37 million led by Goat Rodeo Capital just one year after closing a $31 million Series A. Carlton Fowler, Goat Rodeo Capital’s Managing Partner, also officially joined Lemon Perfect’s board, alongside Rita Patel, CMO at Arby’s, as well as the company’s previous investors, Barak Bar-Cohen and Phillip Sarofim, founder of Trousdale Ventures. After the latest raise, the company’s post-money valuation is now $150 million.

Hufnagel is a former basketball coach at Oklahoma, Harvard, and Vanderbilt. He founded Lemon Perfect in 2017, and in 2020, found that Beyoncé’ had posted a photo with the company’s Dragon Fruit Mango bottle in her limo. The healthy drink company is one of the most-funded CPG brands lately, along with the mega deals of Liquid Death and Olipop.

Is Lemon Perfect a short-term fad, or a long-term success story? With most smaller brands in CPG scooped up by bigger players, like PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, or Keurig Dr. Pepper, will Lemon Perfect be acquired up by one of these larger corporations, or pave a path on its own?