Choi Yun-seok (52), who runs a dental clinic in Guro District, Seoul, expressed his strong support for the dental platform “Morden.”
“It’s a great place to discuss practical matters like opening a business, hospital management, patient feedback, and treatment methods,” Choi said. “It’s also very helpful to study dental books and seminars.”
Morden is run by Intellectual (CEO Jeong Hee-beom), a medical technology startup founded in 2019. The company also owns “Medistream,” a platform for Korean medicine practitioners, and “Cheese Talk,” a platform for dental hygienists.
Morden’s services for professionals are similar to those of other platforms in the industry. In August of this year, 83.3% of Intellectual’s customers had an annual income of 100 million won or more. The industry also found that the majority of these high-spending customers were in the biotechnology and beauty sectors.
According to an analysis by Mail Business and venture capital information platform The VC, 297 companies had monthly consumer transactions exceeding 100 million won in August of this year. The top ten companies with the highest annual revenue share were all in the biotechnology or beauty sectors. Among consumers using these services, over half have an annual income of over 100 million won, while less than 5% have an annual income of less than 50 million won.
Ranked by consumer transaction volume, the top ten are: Tiennes (Bio & Medical), MediFutures (Beauty), Motiva Korea (Beauty), Geneus (Bio & Medical), Integration (Bio & Medical), Exocobio (Beauty), Metacene Therapeutics (Bio & Medical), Denier (Bio & Medical), Betec Korea (Pharmaceutical), and iWorld Pharmaceutical (Bio & Medical).
Tiennes (CEO Jang Won-gun), ranked first, was founded in 2020. It develops and sells the clear dental aligner brand “SERAFIN,” providing customized orthodontic treatment services centered around aligners and clinical support products.
Metacene Therapeutics (CEO Park Myung-gyu), founded in 2015, ranked seventh. The company boasts a suite of core technologies and produces omega-3, mineral supplements, protein, and dietary fiber products. 64.9% of its customers fall into the upper-middle income bracket.
Mail Business and The VC compared consumer data from December 2022 and found that the five companies with the highest annual consumer share per billion at that time were all biotech companies, demonstrating that targeting high-end customers is not a new phenomenon.
Industry insiders generally believe this is a “pinset” strategy adopted by biotech and beauty companies—focusing on specific customer segments, creating added value for a small number of elite clients through high unit prices and specialized technology.
Lee Jong-woo, professor of business administration at Asia University, noted, “Ultimately, it comes down to the high unit price of services, and high-income customers are more inclined to consume based on their individual preferences.”
Companies with unique technologies are providing differentiated value to a small number of high-end customers, and this trend is expected to continue to intensify.
Investor interest in the biotech and beauty sectors continues to grow. According to data from The VC, investment in related ventures has increased from 580.4 billion won in 2015 to 2.1736 trillion won in 2020, reaching 3.781 trillion won in 2023 and 5.6247 trillion won in 2024 (last year). As of September this year, investment totaled 3.6026 trillion won.
It is widely believed in the industry that the continued influx of capital has also driven these companies to further segment their business models and target high-net-worth clients.