[Interview] "K-Beauty Is Like a Mini Semiconductor"... Cellimax's Sales Surge 3.7 Times in One Year

Interview with Minseok Kim, CEO of Cellimax
A K-Beauty Experiment by a Watcha-Alumni Entrepreneur
"Targeting 1 Trillion Won in Sales and Global Derma Brand Status Within 5 Years"

Minseok Kim, CEO of Cellimax.

"When I started the cosmetics business, my biggest concern was, 'How can I create products that customers will want to repurchase?'"

The career of Minseok Kim (39), founder and CEO of the derma skincare brand Cellimax, is unique. He is from the IT industry, having worked for four years as an early member of the OTT platform Watcha. After leaving Watcha, he entered the cosmetics industry at the suggestion of an acquaintance who was preparing a fashion and beauty commerce business. He said, "Although I had no experience in the beauty industry at the time, I was confident in online marketing and data analysis," adding, "I was also attracted by the fact that the beauty industry has the potential to expand into global markets."

Kim's philosophy is also reflected in the Cellimax brand name—a compound of 'cell' and 'maximum,' symbolizing the ambition to maximize solutions for skin concerns. Kim explained, "The essence of cosmetics is ultimately to solve skin problems," and "the starting point of the brand was to create products that could actually deliver on their promised efficacy."

Sales Increased 3.7 Times Last Year, Surpassing 170 Billion Won

This approach quickly translated into tangible results. Last year, Cellimax recorded sales of 173.6 billion won, growing approximately 3.7 times from the previous year's 46.2 billion won. The company also maintained an operating margin of around 25%, demonstrating high profitability among indie beauty brands. This level is far above that of major cosmetics companies such as Amorepacific (7.9%) and LG Household & Health Care (2.7%), and even higher than APR, the fastest-growing indie brand last year, which posted an operating margin of 24%.

Given that APR's sales doubled compared to the previous year, Cellimax's growth trajectory is even steeper. This is why Cellimax has earned nicknames like "the second APR" or "the second Gudai Global."

The background to this rapid growth is not a single 'hit product,' but rather a 'steady-seller portfolio' strategy. Typically, indie brands see the bulk of their sales come from one or two hero products, but Cellimax's structure is different. Product lines such as "Eraser Pad," "Noni Ampoule," "Brightening Line," "The Vita Line," and "Dual Barrier Line" each account for 20-30% of sales, resulting in a balanced and diversified revenue stream.

Kim said, "Some brands have hero products that account for more than 80% of total sales, but in our case, multiple steady sellers make up our portfolio," adding, "As time passes, repurchases accumulate, creating an explosive upward trend in sales."

Kim explained that his experience analyzing content consumption data at an OTT platform was very helpful for the cosmetics business. The most important metrics at Watcha were "visits" and "repurchases."

Kim said, "You can attract users to a content platform through marketing, but if it doesn't lead to repeat visits and repurchases, the service can't grow," and "the cosmetics industry is similar in that, while repurchases exist, customers have many brand choices, so it's hard to drive consistent repurchases."

Cellimax's Core Competitiveness: Steady Sellers Based on Consumer-Experienced Effectiveness

Noni Ampoule, the flagship product of Cellimax. Cellimax

Kim focused on this point. He said, "Even in 2016, when I started the cosmetics business, although repurchases existed, the market paid little attention to them or didn't measure them accurately," adding, "We tracked data to see how much each product was being repurchased."

This is also where the ingredient-focused strategy emerged. The reasoning was that for repurchases to occur, the product's effectiveness must be proven at a level that consumers can actually experience. Kim emphasized, "If a product claims to improve wrinkles, consumers must be able to actually feel the wrinkle improvement," adding, "The reason we design our products around proven ingredients from academic papers is that customer satisfaction leads to repurchases."

Cellimax's growth is continuing in global markets. Currently, overseas sales account for a larger portion of total revenue, and sales are expanding in major markets such as the United States, Japan, and Europe. Notably, the brand has entered Ulta Beauty, known as the "Olive Young" of the United States. Kim said, "Until now, our growth in the U.S. was mainly through online channels like Amazon, but going forward, global offline expansion will be a key growth driver," adding, "In particular, the entry into Ulta Beauty will be reflected in this year's sales."

Even after achieving rapid growth from 46.2 billion won in 2024 to 173.6 billion won in 2025 within just one year, Kim remains confident in the company's continued growth. He said, "Our sales guidance for this year is 400 billion won," adding, "In the fourth quarter alone last year, sales reached around 70 billion won. If you annualize that, we can easily achieve more than 300 billion won, and considering the backlog of orders from last year due to supply shortages, reaching 400 billion won should be well within reach."

"Will Pursue IPO Upon Reaching 1 Trillion Won in Annual Sales"

Regarding Cellimax's five-year outlook, Kim said, "Our goal is to reach 1 trillion won in annual sales and to be listed among the top 10 K-beauty indie brands."

He intends to pursue an initial public offering (IPO) in the long term, but made it clear that he will not rush into it before achieving 1 trillion won in annual sales and becoming one of the top 10 K-beauty indie brands.

Kim remarked, "Once we reach 1 trillion won in annual sales, global derma brands will begin to recognize us as a competitor," adding, "At that point, I believe we could pursue an IPO as a springboard for Cellimax to grow even further." Currently, global derma brands generate annual sales of about 3 trillion to 3.5 trillion won.

Kim said, "K-beauty is like a mini semiconductor," adding, "Beauty is the sector where Korea excels most in manufacturing and B2C marketing." He explained, "Until now, the cosmetics market has been divided between expensive but excellent French cosmetics and cheap but low-quality Chinese ones," and, "Korean cosmetics are positioned exactly in the middle between France and China." He added, "With manufacturing prowess and marketing competitiveness combined, the K-beauty industry as a whole will continue on an upward trend."

Asked about the possibility of the K-beauty boom being just a passing fad, Kim showed calm yet firm confidence. He said, "Trends can change at any time, but as long as the product is strong, customers will remain loyal."

He concluded with the following:

"We don't want to be a trend-driven brand, but rather a brand that grows through a structure built on repeat purchases."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.