BC Business
Vancouver-based Revol Cares is looking to reach new markets and keep up with increasing demand with the help of new funding
It’s probable that those who have a period know what it’s like to leak (or at least just a little).
Sara Jónsdóttir knows the feeling. And when it happened to her at an internship, it inspired the idea for her final design project at university—a period underwear to protect those with a heavy flow.
After prototyping and presenting at a final showcase, the positive feedback she received eventually convinced her to pursue it seriously. “[I] eventually started an Etsy shop and was like hand-sewing every single pair myself, so I started very organically,” Jónsdóttir says. In 2019, she launched Revol Cares, making an impact on the re-usable period product industry, especially for women with a heavy flow.
“What we really strive to do is to bring the best protection in the most comfortable ways, so breathable, super soft bamboo, things that you actually want to pick up and wear [knowing] that you can go your full day or full night [protected],” she says. Revol Cares’ products are medically recognized by the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada.
Since we last caught up with Jónsdóttir (she and her former university professor and now business partner, Shirley Thompson, were featured in our September 2024 issue), Revol Cares hit a big business milestone: In December, Jónsdóttir raised $2 million from Canadian angel investors over six weeks to support her brand’s growth. Jónsdóttir says it’s “extra special” that this funding round was quick, and all from investors on this side of the border (at least for now, she notes).
“For me, personally, this it means a lot. Women are notoriously underfunded,” she says. “I felt incredible reassurance from people that were coming on board in their belief in me as a founder.”
Jónsdóttir says this $2 million will allow Revol Cares to grow online and expand to new retailers (Revol Cares is already in London Drugs, Safeway, Choices and more). “It’s exciting to see that we’re able to take this next chapter and… get to that higher growth that we’re looking at,” she says, adding that this funding also allowed the team to grow to 13 people.
“We’re able to move faster and actually do better work. And that is just such a breath of fresh air,” Jónsdóttir says. The funding will also go towards increasing inventory to keep up with demand. The annual growth rate of the sustainable period wear market sits at 29 percent (vastly outpacing the industry’s output rate of 7 percent), according to NIQ’s 2024 Syndicated Omnishopper. For Jónsdóttir, this means reaching new markets and adding different styles in an inclusive way.
“We get a lot of feedback on, ‘oh my gosh, I didn’t realize how much stress I was carrying around my period until I didn’t have it anymore.’ And that to me, those are the moments [where I’m] just like OK, let’s keep going, let’s keep innovating and give people that peace of mind,” she says.