Our Story

Primarily we are coffee lovers, who like to not just make better coffee but also make coffee world better.

It all began with COVID. When COVID locked down forced us to change the way we consumed coffee, we realized how critical high quality beans and roast freshness are in achieving the highest quality of cup. We also realized how coffee roasting is a gate keeper and a constraint in achieving supply chain efficiencies and equitable society in the coffee world. So, we came together to marry the decades of speciality coffee experience with technology, and supply chain with a vision to make top quality beans and coffee roasting capability accessible to everyone in the world, and a mission to make every cup of magical.

Meet The Team

Anjani CEO

Anjani Annumalla

Founder & CEO

Anjani is an engineer at heart with a passion for solving complex business problems. He spent 15 years+ in the tech and e-commerce industry. Anjani led the launch and expansion of consumables, and grocery businesses in the US, EU, JP, and IN, at Amazon and helped build the foundational technology for supply chain, last mile, and robotics fulfillment. His obsession with coffee, and solving the imbalanced and complicated coffee supply chain is what led to Bunafr.

Jeff Babcock

Jeff Babcock

Chief Coffee Officer

Jeff, a coffee industry veteran with 35 years of wisdom, has started multiple coffee companies and still owns Zoka Coffee based in Seattle. Zoka has won several national/international barista championships and awards. Jeff served on the Speciality Coffee Association (SCA) board in the 1980s, judged Cup of Excellence competitions, and vetted farms for 15+ years. He was one of the few that helped shape third wave coffee culture in the US.

aike muller

Aike Muller

Principal Firmware and Automation Engineer

Aike Müller is an experienced entrepreneur, product developer, cybersecurity expert, and startup advisor. He started his career at PC, performing tech due diligence in corporate M&A for clients in airfreight, retail, logistics, government, and food. Aike invented and developed an award-winning hardware/ cybersecurity solution and sold it in more than 125 countries. With a proven track record in developing apps and software for connected devices, Aike is a perfect one to build firmware and automation for the Bunafr Roaster.
Justin Knowles

Justin Knowles

Principal Prototyping and Product Development

Justin Knowles has over 20 years of manufacturing, engineering, and product development experience. Before founding Facture in 2017, he was a technical leader and director at Product Creation Studio, where he led the multi-disciplinary design and engineering teams. He co-founded and grew a specialty outdoor product brand which Leatherman Tool Group acquired in 2012. Previously, he worked on various innovative products as a manufacturing and industrial engineer.
Colin Miller

Colin Miller

Hardware Engineer

With a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Washington, Colin Miller has worked as a mechanical engineer on many projects at Facture. He worked on many projects ranging from ideation to production for devices ranging from sports wearables to household consumer electronics to electrical measurement equipment. Colin is great at packaging complex electronics and mechanical components within a constrained space in devices. Colin likes one more thing – coffee and has worked on other coffee tech products. Bunafr is lucky to have him.
Armando Hurtado

Armando Hurtado

Hardware Engineering and Manufacturing Advisor

Armando Hurtado brings a depth of experience in launching consumer products. Throughout his career, he has overseen the development of products sold for over USD 1B in multiple geographies and CPG categories. He has obtained numerous patents in the space and has a deep network of contract manufacturers and suppliers. He is passionate about helping solve the everyday needs of consumers and delighting them with intuitive and irresistible product experiences at scale. Like everyone else involved in Bunafr, he is a coffee nut, endlessly on a journey to find that elusive “perfect” espresso cup.