JP Innovation: "Beyond Equipment Manufacturing, Moving into EPC... Taking on the Challenge of Becoming a '100-Year Company'"

Competitive Edge in Specialized Equipment Manufacturing Across Diverse Industries
KRW 36.8 Billion Contract... Revenue Up 138%
Quadrupling Production Capacity... IPO Next Year and Exploring U.S. Expansion

"We built a PD mixer that costs KRW 2 billion. If our clients can test it themselves, what more could they ask?"

Lee Jehwan, CEO of JP Innovation, said this on October 14 at the company's plant in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, pointing to a large industrial mixing machine, the "PD mixer," at one side of the factory. The silvery machine weighs 20 tons and towers well above an adult's height. Lee operated it himself, demonstrating for reporters how the blades inside rotate. Its key function is to uniformly mix and disperse highly viscous materials. It can be used in production processes across a range of industries, from secondary-battery electrode materials to chemicals, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, and electronic materials.

Lee had the machine built to demonstrate the company's technical capabilities. Clients that handle expensive raw materials place great importance on equipment performance and reliability. Since they may hesitate to adopt unproven equipment, the machine is part of a sales strategy that lets clients verify its performance for themselves. The company recently developed the "PDH mixer," which combines the existing PD mixer with high-speed homogenization, and completed its patent registration. This technology also helped the company win a secondary-battery project for the U.S. market and secure an equipment supply contract.

Lee Jehwan, CEO of JP Innovation, explains a PD mixer installed at the company's production plant in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, on the 14th. Photo by Choi Hogyeong.

Technical edge for a changing industry... Expanding EPC business

Founded in 2009, JP Innovation manufactures chemical process equipment used in pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, cosmetics, secondary batteries, semiconductors and electronic materials. Its main products include reactors, filter reactors, filter dryers and freeze dryers. The company builds equipment tailored to clients' needs for a range of production processes, from raw material synthesis to filtration, washing, drying and mixing. 

The company's strength lies in its broad yet rare manufacturing expertise, which does not depend on any single industry. According to Lee, only a handful of companies in Korea make certain specialized equipment, including filter dryers and freeze dryers. JP Innovation has also built up design and manufacturing capabilities, as well as a track record of deliveries, for a range of specialized equipment, including PD mixers. More recently, it independently developed a "powder refiner" for pharmaceutical raw material processes, which had relied heavily on imported equipment, and filed a patent application for it.

Lee Jehwan, CEO of JP Innovation, introduces various pieces of equipment installed at the company's production plant in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, on the 14th. MainBiz Association

This technical edge has given the company a foundation for responding flexibly to changes in industry conditions. When the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries were booming, related equipment accounted for more than half of revenue. More recently, production facilities for cosmetic ingredients have become a core business, driven by the growth of the K-beauty industry. In particular, a KRW 36.8 billion contract signed in 2024 to supply production facilities to AS Tech, a manufacturer of sunscreen ingredients, gave the company's performance a major boost. As revenue from the project began to be fully reflected in 2025, consolidated revenue rose 138.2% from the previous year to KRW 57.3 billion, while operating profit more than sixfold to KRW 6.4 billion.

Recently, the company has also been expanding its engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) business, building on its process equipment manufacturing capabilities. Under this turnkey approach, it handles everything from process design to equipment manufacturing, installation and commissioning so clients can produce the materials they need. The company is also focused on reducing design errors and rework by introducing an engineering-based approach and a 3D design system. Last year, it also pursued management innovation, including by implementing an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system and an internal accounting control system. In recognition of these achievements, it received the Minister of SMEs and Startups Award at this year's SME Management Innovation Awards.

JP Innovation's main production equipment. JP Innovation

The company is also expanding its production facilities to support business growth. Its current headquarters plant in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, occupies a 4,100-pyeong site and has six factory buildings, with annual production capacity valued at KRW 50 billion. The company plans to build a new plant on a 10,000-pyeong site in Hwaseong's Yanggam H Techno Valley by 2028 and relocate its existing manufacturing facilities there. It aims to increase annual production capacity to around KRW 200 billion and strengthen its ability to handle medium- and large-scale EPC projects.

Going global on the back of an IPO... A vision for a "100-year company"

JP Innovation plans to use an initial public offering (IPO) as a springboard to step up its expansion into overseas markets. Lee said that the company had previously exported equipment to Japan and established a local subsidiary in Vietnam, but its efforts to expand overseas had been limited by a lack of overseas sales staff and organizational capacity. The company is preparing to go public between May and July 2027 and plans to expand its overseas sales organization and recruit specialists after listing to pursue growth in international markets. It is also considering establishing a local subsidiary in the United States and participating in overseas trade shows.

Lee's ultimate goal is to grow the company into a "100-year company." He envisions building a management system that will enable the company to continue growing even when it is led by professional managers rather than his children.

Lee Jehwan, CEO of JP Innovation, answers reporters' questions at a press briefing hosted by the MainBiz Association on the 14th.

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