Companies that catch two birds with one stone: profit and growth

– The presence of excellent startups generating profits of tens of billions in each field is drawing attention.

– Only a quarter of all startups generated operating profits last year.. Focus on competitiveness that has captured both growth and profits

– Drive real profit generation by improving core business or expanding portfolio

Amidst economic uncertainty, large startups such as Naver, Toss, and Carrot are maintaining a steady surplus, and leading startups are emerging as new leaders in the industry, heralding even greater growth this year, drawing attention.

According to the 2024 profit and loss and financial status released by the startup data platform 'Forest of Innovation', only about a quarter of startups made operating profits last year, so attention is focused on the movements of companies with a solid profit base.

We take a look at startups that are achieving real results in various fields such as commerce, IT, and lifestyle.

■ Commerce specialist Boosters, operating profit of 9.1 billion won last year through global strategy… expected to reach 100 billion won in sales this year

Commerce startup Boosters is on the verge of achieving annual sales of 100 billion won, with cumulative sales increasing 2.4 times year-on-year as of June this year. Last year, sales and operating profit were 72.8 billion won and 9.1 billion won, respectively.

Boosters’ rapid growth came from investing in internal systems that can stably operate and nurture brand assets. They built a dashboard that can view sales and profits in real time, balanced growth of their own mall, retail, and global channels, and fostered Brandon and Equalberry as global brands, thereby building a solid sales portfolio.

The overseas market development centered around 'Brandon' and 'Equalberry' was also effective. Brandon, the number one organizer in the domestic market, is continuing its growth by word of mouth centered around influencers in Asian markets such as Taiwan and Hong Kong. Skincare brand Equalberry has maintained the top 100 in the toner and serum category since entering Amazon in the US in January of last year. Its competitiveness was also recognized by making it to the top 20 of K-beauty on Shopee, a leading e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia. Currently, Equalberry has expanded its export channels to over 70 countries including Europe, Southeast Asia, and Oceania.

Based on these achievements, Boosters plans to continuously expand its investment in product development, marketing, and distribution infrastructure with the goal of surpassing KRW 100 billion in annual sales and leaping forward as a global commerce group.

■ IT startup Team Sparta achieved sales of 60 billion won and operating profit of 10 billion won last year based on business diversification

IT startup Team Sparta continued its rapid growth by achieving annual sales of 60 billion won and operating profit of 10 billion won in 2024. It established itself as an IT conglomerate with AI technology integration, education brand innovation, and new business diversification as its main growth drivers.

In 2024, 7,189 students graduated from KDT (K-Digital Training) 'Spartan Tomorrow Learning Camp' and are supporting the strengthening of students' practical skills and employment success through the employment-linked program 'Baro Intern'. In addition, based on education industry know-how, meaningful results were achieved in the domestic and international AX/DX corporate education field, and the B2B corporate education team performed about 190 education projects, recording sales performance more than four times that of 2023. Based on these solid results, Team Spartan plans to continue to expand and leap forward in the education and new business fields in the future.

■ Home appliance company Athome, Minix food waste disposer 'The Plender' popularity leads to operating profit of 8 billion won

At Home, known for its small home appliance brand 'MINIX', surpassed 115 billion won in sales and 8 billion won in operating profit last year. In particular, 'MINIX The Plender' drove sales from 2.6 billion won in the fourth quarter of 2023 to 16.6 billion won in just one year.

At Home said that the main reason for its growth was its focus on strengthening its technology and securing price competitiveness through cost reduction through a strategy focusing on its own marketing. This year, it set a goal of achieving sales of 230 billion won through improved production capacity. In addition, it plans to expand its product line targeting 1-3 person households, such as mini kimchi refrigerators and cordless vacuum cleaners.

■ Delight Room, the operator of the sleep-wake solution 'Alami', secures its position by maintaining an operating profit rate of over 50% for 3 years

Delight Room, the operator of the global sleep-wake solution 'Alami', has continued to grow steadily with sales of 33.7 billion won and operating profit of 19 billion won last year. Sales, which were 13 billion won in 2021, exceeded 30 billion won in three years, and the operating profit rate has also maintained over 50% for the past three years, securing a solid position in the industry.

The core source of revenue, ‘Alamy’, has solidified its revenue model centered on in-app advertising and additional functions based on 4.6 million monthly active users worldwide. In addition, ‘Daro’, an advertising monetization solution for app developers, is being operated as a new business starting in 2023. Delight Room’s strategy is to secure global competitiveness by encompassing both sleep tech and ad tech.

■ Salaried Rich People Achieve Operating Profit of 28.3 Billion Won Last Year

The salaryman rich, a practical financial technology platform for office workers, continues to grow rapidly by leading customers to build real assets centered on education services. Last year, sales were 50.8 billion won and operating profit was 28.3 billion won. Sales increased by about 27 times in 5 years.

Salaried Rich provide customized curriculums and highly effective educational content optimized for asset size and life cycle. Their core competitiveness is to organically connect their assets and capabilities, such as educational content, platform community services, and on-demand media channels, to provide consistent customer experience (CX).