“Athome is not just a small home appliance company, but a corporation that provides solutions to hidden problems in the home. This year, we aim to achieve annual sales of 230 billion won, doubling last year's figure, and plan to go public in 2028.”
Yang Jeong-ho, CEO of home lifestyle solution company 'Athome', held a press conference on the 9th at the company’s headquarters in Seongdong-gu, Seoul, under the theme of 'Athome Next 2025.' Athome, established in 2018, recorded sales of 115 billion won last year, marking a 2.5 times increase from the previous year’s 45 billion won, the highest since its founding. Operating profit last year was 8 billion won.
Athome operates the small appliance brand 'Minix' and the home aesthetic brand 'Tom.' Minix products include a 3kg mini dryer, a small dishwasher, and a food waste disposer. Tom offers the home beauty solution 'Tom G Peel Program' and the water drop ultrasonic device 'The Glow.'
CEO Yang noted, “Statistics indicate that the average time spent at home is 10.3 hours, or 42.9% of the 24-hour day,” and added, “While it is becoming harder to have a large house, appliances are becoming more premium and larger. Athome's goal is to ensure that consumers can enjoy the convenience of appliances even in small homes.”
Athome raised 18 billion won in Series A funding in February and acquired the food waste disposer manufacturer 'Fore.' This is to change the existing original equipment manufacturer (OEM) structure and strengthen in-house production capacity.
Son Hyun-wook, Chief Operating Officer (COO), said, “While there were no liquidity issues, we paid the order prices upfront but had long reconciliation cycles, which caused delays in funds being tied up, leading us to seek investment.” He also mentioned, “Despite the increasing orders for food waste disposers, our monthly production was only 18,000 units. We aim to enhance our cost, production volume, and technological competitiveness through the acquisition of Fore.”
COO Son said, “I see 2025 as the second founding year for full-fledged growth.” The plan includes diversifying products and expanding the Minix and Tom brands internationally. While the Minix brand has focused on single-person households, this year it plans to introduce larger capacity products and expand its range to include cordless vacuum cleaners, kimchi refrigerators, and body dryers starting in the second quarter. The Tom brand will introduce new products focused on trouble care this summer.
The plan includes securing a stable revenue structure through the deodorizing filter used in the food waste disposer 'The Plender.' The replacement cycle for the deodorizing filter is 3 to 4 months, with a maximum of 6 months. COO Son expects that this year, cumulative sales of The Plender will reach 400,000 units and deodorizing filter sales will total 7 billion won.
Minix aims to establish B2B (business-to-business) distribution channels for entry into the U.S. and European markets. To achieve this, Athome has actively participated in overseas electronics fairs since last year. In February, a contract was signed to export 2,000 units of The Plender to European appliance distributor Mares Group. The Plender is set to be sold in seven European countries through the Mares Group this year. Tom plans to target overseas markets through collaborations with popular influencers and participation in a pop-up event in New York in May.
CEO Yang stated, “We plan to focus online for sales abroad and have already prepared sales channels,” adding, “Just as we have been tenfold or a hundredfold more attentive to customers’ 'hidden needs' compared to other corporations, we will continue to create super-gap competitiveness moving forward.”