Yang Jeongho, CEO of AtHome: "The Challenge of Water Droplet Ultrasonic Technology, the Driving Force Behind 100 Billion Won in Sales"

Differentiating Home Care with Water Droplet Ultrasonic Technology
Full-Scale Entry into North America with Exhibitions and Online Sales

A startup that began with a capital of 5 million won and no office has surpassed 100 billion won in annual sales without any external investment. This is the story of AtHome, which has targeted niche markets through its small home appliance brand, Minix. Starting this year, AtHome is expanding its business focus around its beauty brand, THOME, accelerating product development and talent acquisition to target the global beauty market.

In an interview with The Asia Business Daily on January 26, Yang Jeongho, CEO of AtHome, said, "The Korean market is extremely competitive in the beauty device sector. Despite such an environment, we have achieved meaningful results, and I am confident that this experience will serve as an important foundation for global expansion." He emphasized that the company plans to leverage its achievements in the Korean market to expand globally.

AtHome started from a rather unique position as a 'startup that manufactures home appliances.' While the home appliance sector is typically avoided by new companies due to its enormous product development costs and sales risks, CEO Yang saw this as an opportunity. He said, "There are not many companies that center themselves around the typical startup perspective of 'how sharply can we solve the customer's problem?' As a result, I believed there were still many unresolved issues from the customer's perspective."

Yang Jeongho, CEO of AtHome. AtHome

AtHome's direction of solving everyday problems through technology led to the creation of THOME. The company focused on water droplet ultrasonic (LDM) technology as a core innovation enabling high-efficacy home care. CEO Yang explained, "The key elements of a beauty device are efficacy, safety, and sustainability, but there are not many devices that satisfy all three. Water droplet ultrasonic technology is optimized for home care, as it can be used daily without burden and delivers tangible results."

The results are becoming visible. THOME, which posted 15 billion won in sales in 2024, achieved more than 2.5 times sales growth following the launch of its 'The Glow' beauty device. AtHome has declared this year as the first year of its global expansion and plans to target the North American market through its own website, Amazon, and TikTok Shop, starting with its first participation in a global beauty exhibition at the end of this month.

CEO Yang stated, "We have been preparing product planning and certification for the North American market from the early stages, so our product lineup is already optimized for overseas markets. We plan to focus our capabilities on precisely transferring our accumulated domestic product development methods, brand-building experience, and rapid execution to the global market."

Water Droplet Ultrasonic Device 'Tom Duglow Signature'. At Home

Another pillar of global expansion is Minix. AtHome views food waste disposers as a mid- to long-term growth business, aligned with environmental and regulatory changes. For Minix, the strategy is to expand step by step, starting with Europe and moving into countries with similar regulatory environments and lifestyles. CEO Yang said, "After surpassing 100 billion won in sales two years ago, we have continued significant growth through food waste disposers, mini kimchi refrigerators, and beauty devices up to last year. This year, we are aiming for annual sales of 400 billion won."

He added, "In the long term, I want AtHome to be not just a large company, but a company with a clear reason for existence. I want to delve deeply into the inconveniences and problems that people experience, to the extent that consumers would wonder, 'How would I solve this problem if AtHome disappeared?'"