Anand Upender

Anand Upender is a design engineer and agency founded in 2016, operating remotely from San Francisco, California. The agency merges reflective design with hands-on interaction, prototyping websites, apps, and culinary experiences that foster human connection. With a team of under 49 employees, it serves small businesses across food and beverage, design, and crypto industries.

The founder brings experience from roles at TED (Healthy Internet Project), IDEO CoLab, Facebook (as the first Design Engineering intern), Urgent.Agency in Copenhagen, and Stanford's d.school. This background informs a practice that builds live prototypes and dynamic systems that go beyond visual polish to solve real interaction and emotional challenges.

Anand Upender offers web design and UI/UX design services. The agency embraces a holistic methodology where design, code, storytelling, and food intersect to shape community-driven experiences. Creative output spans interactive web experiences, notably a cursor-tracking, physics-driven personal site, as well as immersive food pop-ups focused on South Asian heritage.

The agency's portfolio includes a web design project for its own brand, and clients include Just Some Folks, Panoptic, and Paolo Bicchieri. Work has been featured by DesignRush for experimental micro-interactions and by Homegrown for community-based culinary playgrounds.

Anand Upender's approach emphasizes belonging and delight through experiential design. The agency builds community events like York Street Cafe and Just Some Folks, and its work fosters human connection through interactive and culinary experiences.