'Carepod' Maker Health&Bio, Founded by a Dentist, Enters the M&A Market... Profitability Declines Amid Top-Line Growth

Health&Bio (CEO Kim Hyung-joo), which rose to the ranks of a so-called 'national humidifier' with its cleaning convenience and perfect sterilization functions, has recently been put up for sale in the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market as it begins the process of selecting a lead manager for the sale of its management rights. Although it is steadily increasing its sales based on solid brand awareness, this move is interpreted as an attempt to create a new turning point to defend its recently plummeted profit margins and take another leap forward in the global market.

Developed Directly by a Practicing Doctor Shocked by the Humidifier Disinfectant Incident... From Home Shopping Sell-Outs to 1 Million Units Globally

Founded in 2014, Health&Bio is a home appliance manufacturer established by CEO Kim Hyung-joo, a practicing dentist with a master's degree from MIT in the U.S. Greatly shocked by the past 'humidifier disinfectant incident', CEO Kim agonized over making a safe product where the water tank could be directly boiled and sterilized like medical tools, ultimately developing the world's first full stainless steel humidifier in 2015.

The premium hygiene appliance brand 'Carepod', officially launched in 2018, applied a low-temperature heating method of about 40℃, eliminating the risk of burns from high-temperature steam over 100℃. It also incorporates a patented technology that removes 99.9% of bacteria by automatically sterilizing the interior at about 70℃ with a single button press after humidification ends. In particular, its detachable cleaning design, which takes just 3 seconds, perfectly resolved the cleaning problem that was the biggest drawback of existing heating-type humidifiers.

Recognized for this innovativeness, it was selected as a Hidden Star TOP 5 at the 'Korea Marketing Fair' in 2019, received support from various distribution networks such as home shopping, and recorded consecutive sell-out successes on major TV home shopping channels. In addition, it proved its design competitiveness by winning one of the world's top three design awards, the 2019 iF Design Award in Germany. Currently, Carepod is widely used for moisturizing newborns and infants in over 100 hospitals and postpartum care centers nationwide, and has achieved the splendid feat of surpassing 1 million units in cumulative global sales. It received high praise overseas as well, being selected as the 'Best Humidifier' by prominent media outlets such as Forbes and CNN in the U.S., and has recently been greatly expanding its stride into the global premium home appliance market by opening its first offline showroom in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan.

[Source: Carepod Website]

Continued Top-Line Growth with KRW 29.4 Billion in Sales in 2025, but Profit Margins Decline

Despite the product's excellence and global expansion trend, a somewhat warning light has turned on in the company's recent profitability indicators. According to Health&Bio's disclosed condensed income statement, the company's sales in 2025 were KRW 29.4 billion, achieving continued top-line growth compared to about KRW 26.8 billion in 2024. However, operating profit shrank by more than half, from about KRW 7 billion in 2024 to about KRW 3.1 billion in 2025.

Looking at the profitability indicators, the downward trend is even clearer. The operating profit margin (OP Margin), which boasted the highest level in the small home appliance industry by reaching 26.39% in 2024, sank to 10.72% in 2025. During the same period, the net income margin (NI Margin) also plummeted from 20.88% to 8.11%, and the earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) margin dropped from 26.44% to 10.84%.

This is interpreted to be influenced by the increase in the cost of sales (from 42% in '24 to 53% in '25) and selling expenses due to the flood of similar products and intensified competition intensity in the home and small appliance markets.

Health&Bio Entering the M&A Market

Currently, the largest shareholder of Health&Bio is the founder, CEO Kim Hyung-joo, who holds a 61.7% stake, while Thinkware (Dinkware) holds 19.2%, and Union Investment Partners holds 8.3%.

In the past, Health&Bio cumulatively attracted about KRW 2.2 billion in investment from Thinkware, Union Investment Partners, and others, and the enterprise value evaluated at the time of its last investment attraction is estimated to be around KRW 10 billion. Although it left something to be desired with its operating profit margin dropping in 2025, considering that the 2025 EBITDA is still solidly maintained at a level of about KRW 3.2 billion, it is projected that the valuation in this sale transaction will be formed at a price far exceeding the past enterprise value of KRW 10 billion.

In the fiercely competitive small home appliance market, the brand value of achieving success with over 1 million units in global sales as a single brand is clear. For this reason, although its profitability has shown a somewhat faltering appearance recently, it is analyzed as a brand that still possesses ample growth potential. Therefore, from the perspective of potential buyers, the key review issues for this deal are expected to be how much more they can expand Health&Bio's sales scale after the acquisition and whether they can maintain a high profit margin once again.