Credit: Harvard Business Review, Facebook
Highlights
- Blueland was introduced to the investors in the eleventh season.
- After getting investments from renowned names like Justin Timberlake, it enticed the judges with its environmentally-conscious concept.
- It has emerged as one of the most profitable Shark Tank companies within six years of its service.
Businesses of all forms come to the global stage of Shark Tank to gain instant recognition. But there are some brands like Blueland, whose vision is bigger than just securing an investment or amplifying their sales after the episode airs.
Before you start struggling to remember Blueland, here’s a quick recap of its Shark Tank journey.
Blueland’s Shark Tank Pitch
Blueland was an eco-friendly cleaning product that was brought to the judges by the entrepreneur duo of Syed Naqvi and Sarah Paiji Yoo. The idea was a brainchild of Sarah, which emerged while she was learning in-depth about dissolved microplastics in water.
After acquiring a solid grasp of multiple aspects of the topic, she was motivated to come up with a comprehensive solution for curbing plastic waste. This is what led her to create Blueland, a range of sustainable cleaning products.
When the two presented their pitch on the show, they mentioned about four of their products, including hand soap, an all-purpose cleaner, a window cleaner, and a bathroom cleaner. To use it, users could buy their ‘forever bottles,’ add the cleaning tablet to the water present in the bottles, and keep on refilling them.
Going ahead in the pitch, the entrepreneurs highlighted the monetary aspects by mentioning that each bottle cost $12. If someone were to buy the entire collection of 4 products, it would cost $38. Available in biodegradable paper packets, the tablets were worth $2 per unit.
Presenting it as a better alternative to the dated cleaning products, the entrepreneurs stated that Blueland products were smaller, lighter, and much cheaper. Sarah even projected that they could get rid of 100 billion plastic bottles across the country with their business idea.
Before making it to Shark Tank, the duo revealed that they had already raised a massive amount of $3 million from numerous investors, including Justin Timberlake. Furthermore, their vision was to come up with more such sustainable products in the near future.
Blueland’s Negotiations
The entrepreneurs sought an investment of $270K for a mere 2% equity in their company. The valuation surprised the investors, who chuckled sarcastically. Moving forward, Sarah and Syed explained their products’ functioning and offered samples to the judges.
The Sharks were impressed by the concept. Guest Shark Daniel Lubetzky made his first solo offer at $1 million for 25% equity in the company. But soon, Lori Greiner joined in the discussion, and both of them proposed their joint offer of $270K for an 8% equity stake.
While they were still negotiating, Kevin O’Leary made his offer of $270K for 5% equity alongside a 1% advisory share. The entrepreneur duo still showed signs of refusal, which irked Mark, and he stepped out of the deal, claiming that they were there only ‘for the commercial.’
The Final Blueland Shark Tank Deal
Even after Mark’s strong remark, the entrepreneurs kept their calm and countered Kevin’s offer of $270K for a 3% equity stake. Along with this, they promised to offer him a royalty of 50 cents per unit till the time he got all his money back.
Kevin accepted the deal without wasting a second.
What Followed Blueland After Shark Tank?
The Blueland Shark Tank endeavor was a hit as the deal closed with Kevin, and the company made massive sales. Within two years of their appearance on the show, its annual revenue went as high as $6 million by November 2021.
By 2023, Blueland mentioned on their website that they had already acquired 100,000 customers on the online platform. In the same year, it was added to the list of largest Shark Tank companies in sales.
Its lifetime sales at that time stood at $160 million, which was a commendable feat for any business that was only three years old. By 2024, this value further escalated to $220 million.
With positive feedback from both customers and investors, they were able to win the trust of leading brands. As a result, Blueland is now available in Target, Erewhon, Whole Foods, and Costco.
Blueland’s Impactful Eco-Friendly Presence
After their Shark Tank journey, Blueland found a special mention in one of the update segments of the fifteenth season. The updated video highlighted their relentless efforts towards accomplishing the mission of reduced plastic waste. The sales made till then were $170 million.
Additionally, it was revealed that Blueland had successfully eradicated more than 1 billion single use plastic containers from both landfills and oceans combined.
Inspired by the continuous strides in its journey, Blueland added multiple new products to its list of offerings, including body wash, dish duo, and toilet cleaner sets. Each of these products is offered with the Leaping Bunny certification, a trusted cruelty-free product certification.
Blueland’s 94.7 score on the B Impact Assessment is further a testament to its eco-friendly cleaning practices. The average score for any regular cleaning-based company generally lies at 50.9.
Conclusion
The Blueland Shark Tank journey underscores that any business that has built its foundation on a focused vision will eventually produce impacts that go beyond financial aspects. Its unwavering commitment to curbing plastic waste touched everyone, including customers and investors.
This success story is an ideal example of how businesses can flourish even while contributing to a social/environmental cause.
References
1. Blueland Raise $20 Million To Eliminate Single-Use Plastics From Home Cleaning, Forbes, MeiMei Fox
2. Leaping Bunny certification
3. Overall B Impact Assessment
Entrepreneur, auteur, raconteur. Rob Merlino is a blogger and writer who enjoys the Shark Tank TV show and Hot Dogs. A father of five who freelances in a variety of publications, Rob has a stable of websites including Shark Tank Blog, Hot Dog Stories, Rob Merlino.com and more.
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