# Intake Breathing raises $62M from Camino Partners for retail push > The round funds retail expansion and hiring, but none of the reporting discloses profit, margins or retail terms. The only profitability figures come from an incumbent's acquisition and do not transfer to a small seller. - Publication: Oddly Profitable - URL: https://oddlyprofitable.eu/articles/intake-breathing-raises-62m-from-camino-partners-for-retail-push - Format: Analysis - Section: Business Models - Published: 2026-10-29 - Sources last checked: 2026-10-28 ## Key points - Intake Breathing took a $62 million investment from Camino Partners, reported on 28 October 2026, to fund retail expansion and internal hiring [1][2]. - None of the reporting discloses Intake's profit, margins or retail terms [1][2]. - The only profitability figures in the sources, $95 million EBITDA on about $200 million revenue, belong to Prestige's acquired brand portfolio, not Intake [4]. - The Intake starter kit costs $49 and includes 15 sets of single-use magnetic strips [2]. Intake Breathing, a Southern California-based maker of a patented nasal dilator system, has taken a $62 million investment from Camino Partners, reported on 28 October 2026 [1][2]. The money is meant to fund retail expansion and internal hiring, but none of the reporting discloses profit, margins or retail terms [1][2]. Our reading: the only profitability figures in the sources (revenue and EBITDA) come from an incumbent's acquisition, and they do not transfer to a small seller. ## What the $62M round does and does not tell sellers Camino Partners is a firm founded by Daniel Lubetzky, the Kind Snacks founder [1]. Glossy reports that the $62 million will buy out early friends-and-family investors, grow a staff of 35 people, diversify marketing and enter big-box retail [2]. Intake currently sells through its own direct-to-consumer (DTC) website and on Amazon [1]. Modern Retail reports that the brand is preparing to enter mass retail [1]. Co-founder and CEO Alex Hauck said Intake has had triple-digit growth over the past three years and has sold more than 100 million pairs of breathing tabs since its launch [1]. Glossy reports that annual sales are approaching $100 million [2]. Neither article reports an independent check of these figures. Investor evidence for the category rests on one statistic. Elle Lanning, president of Camino Partners, said: "When we looked at it in the data, 74% of Intake consumers have not been legacy category consumers" [1]. The reporting does not describe how that figure was measured. Our reading: the round shows that an investor is willing to back nasal wellness products. It does not show whether Intake makes money on each unit. ## Why the reported numbers do not yet reconcile The sources give different launch dates. Glossy says the company launched in 2018 [2]. Modern Retail ties the 100 million pair count to a launch in 2023 [1]. Readers should not build a sales history until the company confirms which date is correct. The unit is also undefined. The sources do not say what Intake counts as a "pair", and the 100 million figure is cumulative since launch while the sales figure is annual, so the two cannot be checked against each other. ## The only profitability benchmark belongs to an incumbent Prestige Consumer Healthcare's filing, dated 20 March 2026, agreed to acquire a portfolio of brands with approximately $200 million of revenue and $95 million of EBITDA for the twelve months ended 31 December 2025 [4]. Breathe Right accounts for about two-thirds of that portfolio's revenue and profitability [4]. Prestige describes Breathe Right as having "strong margins and cash flow generation" [4]. EBITDA, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation, is a non-GAAP measure, meaning it is not a standard accounting figure [4]. That is a portfolio-level ratio for an established brand, not a benchmark for a new seller. ## What a customer pays per night The Intake starter kit costs $49 and includes 15 sets of magnetic adhesive strips for 15 days or nights of wear [2]. The kit includes four sizes of the nasal dilator [2]. The Intake product page is titled "Intake Premier Nasal Dilator Starter Kit" [3]. The strips are single-use [2]. Glossy reports that the device's most common use case is sleep, because it can help temper snoring by reducing mouth breathing [2]. The sources include no refill price or subscription terms, so this article does not model a repeat-purchase plan. ## Product evidence: what a skeptical buyer should weigh The only regulator record in the sources is one voluntary report in the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) MAUDE database, which collects reports of adverse events involving medical devices [5]. The event date is 25 November 2024, and the report was made on 27 November 2024 [5]. A 29-year-old male patient reported that he "Wore the nose band as directed, and had skin irritation and developed a rash" [5]. The performance claims come from the company. Hauck said consumers report better daily activity and sleep patterns due to optimized breathing [1]. The sources do not include an independent trial of effectiveness. One report does not show how often irritation happens. It is still a documented problem, and skin tolerance and adhesion bear on refunds and repeat orders. ## What this means for sellers The following is our analysis, based on the sourced facts above. It is not a finding from any source. ### Retail: more volume, with margins and operations to manage Retail can add volume, but a retailer takes its own margin, and the seller also carries promotional and freight costs. Hauck said Intake is investing in "product unification, SKU management and having our operations dialed in and ready for the size orders that come with retail" [1]. For a small seller, that operational load can be heavier than the sales gain. ### Direct sales and subscriptions: full price, but retention decides it A DTC seller keeps the full price of each sale without a retailer's margin. Its profit then depends on what it spends to acquire each customer and how often customers reorder. The diagram shows a generic refill model, not a verified Intake process. Skin irritation and adhesion problems matter most here, because a product that customers stop wearing or return will not support repeat orders. Readers modelling a subscription should use their own acquisition, return and reorder assumptions. For channel fee comparisons, see our coverage of [Walmart and Target marketplace fees](/articles/walmart-and-target-marketplaces-what-fees-mean-for-seller-margin). ### A small brand without scale: a hard route into shelf space Breathe Right holds the leading US position in the nasal strip category, according to Prestige [4]. It is sold in drug and mass stores [2]. A small brand competing for the same aisles would face an incumbent with distribution and shelf presence. Our view is that a niche subscription, or a specific use case such as sleep or sport, is a more practical route than chasing shelf space. It is one incumbent's figure for a multi-brand portfolio, and the sources do not show what costs sit beneath it. ## What to watch next - Retail partners: which retailers Intake signs, and whether its strips reach drug or mass shelves, as Modern Retail reports the brand is preparing for [1]. - Company metrics: whether Intake publishes retention, repeat-purchase or subscription figures, and defines what a "pair" is. - Incumbent results: Prestige expects the Breathe Right acquisition to close during the first half of its fiscal 2027 [4]. Its later reporting on the brand would show whether the category is growing at the incumbent level. - Safety reports: further MAUDE reports on skin irritation from Intake strips. The FDA database page we checked on 28 October 2026 was last updated on 30 September 2026 [5]. ## Frequently asked questions ### How much did Intake Breathing raise? Intake Breathing took a $62 million investment from Camino Partners, reported on 28 October 2026 [1][2]. The money is meant to fund retail expansion and internal hiring [1][2]. ### Do the sources show Intake's profit margins? No. None of the reporting discloses profit, margins or retail terms [1][2]. The only profitability figures in the sources come from Prestige's acquisition of a broader portfolio [4]. ### Why can't the reported sales figures be checked? The sources give different launch dates, 2018 and 2023 [1][2]. The 100 million pair count is cumulative while the sales figure is annual, and the sources do not define a pair [1][2]. ### What does the one safety record show? A single voluntary FDA MAUDE report from November 2024 describes skin irritation and a rash after a patient wore the nose band as directed [5]. One report does not show how often irritation happens [5]. ## Sources 1. Intake Breathing nabs $62M investment, joining the emerging nasal wellness trend — Modern Retail, published 2026-10-28. https://www.modernretail.co/operations/intake-breathing-62-million-funding-round/?utm_campaign=modernretaildis&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=general-rss 2. Can Intake turn optimized breathing into a wellness status symbol? Camino Partners is betting on it — Glossy, published 2026-10-28. https://www.glossy.co/beauty/wellness/can-intake-turn-optimized-breathing-into-a-wellness-status-symbol-camino-partners-is-betting-on-it/ 3. Intake Premier Nasal Dilator Starter Kit - Life Changing Breathing — Intake Breathing Technology LLC, published 2026-06-18. https://www.intakebreathing.com/products/starter-kit-10 4. Prestige Consumer Healthcare Announces Agreement to Acquire Breathe Right — Prestige Consumer Healthcare Inc. (SEC Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.2), published 2026-03-20. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1295947/000110465926032332/tm269430d1_ex99-2.htm 5. MAUDE Adverse Event Report: INTAKE BREATHING TECHNOLOGY LLC. INTAKE NASAL STRIP; DILATOR, NASAL — U.S. Food and Drug Administration (MAUDE database), published 2024-11-27. https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfmaude/detail.cfm?mdrfoi__id=20845145&pc=LWF