Dermaroller

Dermaroller is a German maker of microneedling devices and companion skincare, based in Wolfenbüttel. The business began in France in 1999 as a sole proprietorship trading as H. Liebl Ets. [2], and its core product is a small hand-held roller studded with fine stainless-steel needles that is passed over the skin. The company presents itself under the tagline "Das Original" ("The Original") and says outright that it invented microneedling, a claim that sits at the centre of how it describes itself.

Over two and a half decades the company has grown from a single instrument aimed at surgical scars into a range that runs from professional devices for dermatologists and plastic surgeons to home-use rollers, sheet masks and ampoules. It has been owned since 2014 by mi.to.pharm GmbH, the company of its chief executive, Michael Tomerius, and it remains active, with subsidiaries in Asia, North America and the United Kingdom.

The company's own timeline places its start in France in 1999, under the name H. Liebl Ets. A 2025 interview with Tomerius in the German business magazine Wirtschaftsforum adds a family dimension: it says the microneedling instrument was invented in 1999 by Tomerius's stepfather, who had it patented and tested it in first studies in 2000 [11]. In that early phase, Tomerius recalled, the focus was mainly on treating scars left by operations; the move into cosmetic use came later. A 2023 regional business feature likewise describes the Dermaroller GmbH as his parents' company before he took it over.

A managing director named H. Liebl is recorded in the company's archived history as leaving the business in 2013. The inventor is not named in full in the company's current materials, and the stepfather is not named in the interview.

The company registered its microneedling patent in 2000. Its current about page describes that step as a turning point for the skincare industry; the phrasing is the company's own.

The business formalised its quality systems early. It gained ISO 9001:2000 certification in 2005, and a French company, Dermaroller S.a.r.l., followed in 2006. In 2008 a German entity, Dermaroller Deutschland S.a.r.l., was set up with Michael Tomerius as chief executive, and the business received ISO 13485 certification, a quality standard for medical-device makers.

Sources differ on when the present German limited company took shape. The company's own timeline dates the founding of Dermaroller GmbH to 2010 [2], while the 2025 Wirtschaftsforum interview states that the business has traded as Dermaroller GmbH since 2008 [11]. The company's timeline treats 2008 as the year of the German S.a.r.l. rather than the GmbH.

The year 2013 brought a cluster of launches: the eDermastamp, an electronic device for professional use, a treatment approach the company calls the CIT Solution, and the New Natural Line of skincare. The same year the founding managing director left. After the change of ownership in 2014, the company introduced a further version of the eDermastamp and entered the Chinese market in 2015. In 2016 it added products including a CC cream, a product called Hyal C and a hyaluronic-acid dispenser.

China became a steady focus. In 2018 the company opened flagship stores on Kaola and RedBook, and in the same year moved into a new company building. Two new product collections, XCellarisPro and Tympacur, followed in 2019, alongside the founding of a holding company, TARANIS Holding.

International expansion continued with a subsidiary in Hong Kong in 2020, mi.to.pharm Americas Corp for the US market in 2021, and mi.to.pharm UK Ltd. in 2022. A new website at dermaroller.com was launched in 2023. According to Tomerius, the company opened a branch in China in early 2025 and is also represented in New York and Japan.

Dermaroller's current about page states that mi.to.pharm GmbH acquired 100 percent of the shares in Dermaroller GmbH in 2014 [2]. The website's legal notice names mi.to.pharm GmbH, registered at the district court in Braunschweig and represented by Tomerius, as the site operator [3]. The 2023 regional feature describes the arrangement in personal terms: Tomerius, already managing director, bought his parents' Dermaroller GmbH outright roughly a decade earlier and folded it into his own mi.to.pharm GmbH, which serves as the sales company [12].

An archived company page gives a slightly different picture. It says the GmbH was incorporated into Taranis GmbH in 2019 [6], the same year the company's timeline records the founding of TARANIS Holding. That page also describes a division of labour, with manufacturing carried out by Dermaroller GmbH and distribution handled by mi.to.pharm GmbH. The 2025 interview, for its part, calls Tomerius the 100 percent shareholder of Dermaroller GmbH. No public source sets out the exact chain between Tomerius, TARANIS, mi.to.pharm and Dermaroller GmbH, so the current structure is best read as a family-controlled group under his leadership.

The business describes itself as a family company, and the interview notes that Tomerius runs it together with his wife, who heads the finance side.

The company roots its identity in aesthetic medical technology rather than in cosmetics. It calls itself an internationally active, mid-sized family business driven by what it describes as a pioneering spirit, and gives its mission as caring for and protecting the skin. Its stated values are innovation, quality and sustainability.

Central to its pitch is the pairing of a device with topical products. The idea, as the company explains it, is that the roller prepares the skin so that the active ingredients applied afterwards can work where they are needed. The 2023 regional feature describes the mechanism in plain terms: the needles make microscopic punctures in the top layer of the skin, which stimulates the body's healing response and collagen production and lets applied ingredients pass through more easily.

Made-in-Germany production is a recurring theme. The company says Wolfenbüttel remains its headquarters, development centre and production site, and the regional feature reports that all needle-bearing parts, meaning the rollers and the needle modules for the electronic devices, are still assembled by hand there. Tomerius explained that these are the parts that actually enter the skin, which is why the company applies its strictest quality checks to them. He also recalled that the concept was hard to sell at first, because describing a roller of 162 needles passed over the face as a medical benefit often met with rejection.

The company says it uses environmentally friendly materials and production processes. No third-party environmental or cruelty-free certifications are documented.

Its social commitments include sponsorship of VfL Wolfsburg's women's football, a youth rugby team at the Hannover 78 sports club, and long-running support for Paulinchen e.V., an initiative for children with burn injuries, as well as the burn-survivor association Cicatrix e.V.

The range divides broadly into medical devices, home-use tools and skincare.

For professionals, the Dermaroller MC (Medical Care) and the electronic eDermastamp are aimed at dermatologists and plastic surgeons. The company lists scars of all kinds as the main field of use, along with wrinkles, pigmentation disorders, sun-damaged skin and stretch marks. According to the company, its quality management is certified to ISO 13485 and its manufacture of microneedle products is certified under Annex V of the European Medical Device Directive 93/42/EEC. The XCellarisPro Twist is a newer electronic microneedling device with adjustable needle depth. In 2023 Tomerius said the company expected US Food and Drug Administration approval for the Twist the following year.

For consumers, the Home Care series includes the short-needled Dermaroller HC and a device called the Beauty Mouse. The best-known model is the Home Care Dermaroller HC902, which, according to the company, carries 162 precisely arranged stainless-steel microneedles that meet the skin at a 90-degree angle [6]. The company markets it as CE-certified and handmade in Germany. On its homepage it also cites a running count of more than 775,000 products sold.

Alongside the tools sit several skincare lines designed to be used with them. The New Natural Line, introduced in 2013, is built around hyaluronic acid, with added vitamins A, C and E, aloe vera and oils; the brand describes it as free of parabens and sulfates. XCellarisPro, launched in 2019, features the ingredient Matrixyl 3000, which the company presents as an anti-ageing ingredient backed by studies, and includes the XCellarisPro Intense Hydration Mask, a sheet mask. Tympacur is a further cosmetic line. The company has more recently extended into hair care, promoting hair-growth products and a Hair Revive Bundle for use with microneedling.

On the scientific side, the company lists published research on its studies page, among them a prospective controlled study of microneedling with the Dermaroller device by M. Schwarz and H. Laaff in the journal Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. In the company's summary, all treated participants reported improvements in pigmentation, smoothness and skin texture [8]. For new device development, the regional feature reports that the company works with student spin-offs from TU Braunschweig, with Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences involved in parts of the process.

The most recent independent recognition came in July 2025, when the Luxury Lifestyle Awards named Dermaroller the Best Luxury Professional-Grade At-Home Skincare Device in Germany [13].

Earlier distinctions are listed on the company's archived about page. According to that page, the trade journal Aesthetic Dermatology chose the Dermaroller as its Product of the Year 2013, and the company won treatment of the year at The Aesthetics Awards for 2013–2014 and a Pinnel Award for product innovation. The page also cites growth awards, including a place in FOCUS and Statista's Europe's Fastest Growing Companies 2020, and a similar ranking by the Financial Times and Statista.

The company's press page lists coverage in the German editions of ELLE, Esquire and Cosmopolitan, as well as in BUNTE and the regional Braunschweiger Zeitung.

Dermaroller is active. Its reach is described differently depending on the source: the company says its products are sold in more than 50 countries [2], while the 2023 regional feature put the figure at 37 countries [12]. According to the company, it sells through authorised contract partners abroad and sells its medical devices directly to users in Germany.

In 2023 management set out growth ambitions tied to e-commerce and new markets, aiming for annual revenue of 36.5 million euros by the end of 2027. The 2025 interview reports a new branch in China and representation in New York and Japan, and the company's press page lists coverage from 2026, including an international edition of a German sports-medicine journal [4].