Sarah Paiji Yoo Helped Reinvent the Cleaning Industry
By Kelli Luu | 27 Jul, 2026

After setting a goal to eliminate single use plastic from household cleaning, Sarah Paiji Yoo developed a company that has generated hundreds of millions and prevented one billion plastic bottles from entering the waste stream.

Blueland was co-founded by Sarah Paiji Yoo with a simple, yet ambitious goal: eliminate single-use plastic from household cleaning. For most shoppers, cleaning products are must-purchase household essentials, but Yoo wondered why consumers are paying to ship cleaning liquid in single use plastic bottles. This led her to help co-found Blueland, a company that is transforming the cleaning product industry with refillable bottles and cleaning tablets. 

Sarah Paiji Yoo was born and raised in California and later studied at Harvard University where she graduated with a degree in economics. She started her career working at big names like McKinsey & Company and Goldman Sachs, proving that she had a promising career in finance, but Yoo always knew she wanted to develop a company of her own. 

Yoo left Harvard before completing her MBA to focus on her very first startup, a mobile shopping app called Snapette, which she founded in 2011. Snapette ended up being acquired by PriceGrabber in 2013, marking Yoo’s first successful exit as a founder. 

Her next idea came years later after becoming a mother. She began researching the environmental impact of everyday household products and learned about plastic pollution and unnecessary packaging in the cleaning industry. In 2019, Yoo partnered with John Mascari to launch Blueland, introducing the world to refillable cleaning bottles that come with tablets that dissolve in water. The Blueland team spent years developing formulas that were high quality and sustainable and finally received a national breakthrough after appearing on Shark Tank. 

Sarah Paiji Yoo scored an investment deal from Kevin O’Leary and consumer demand increased after the episode aired in 2019. Blueland expanded to more products and from there landed spots in major retailers like Target, Costco, and Whole Foods. 

The company has reported over $300 million in lifetime sales and 80% revenue growth in 2025. Blueland also estimates that their products have prevented over one billion single-use plastic bottles from entering the waste stream, earning them recognition on TIME’s 100 Most Influential Companies of 2026. 

Sarah Paiji Yoo helped challenge an industry built around disposable plastic and today she stands amongst a growing generation of Asian American entrepreneurs who are proving that innovation and purpose go hand in hand.