Investing in Physical Fitness and the Planet, One Pickleball Paddle at a Time
Hugh Davis started playing pickleball almost a decade ago as a high school sophomore. His passion and dedication for the sport only grew over time, but he continued to run into the same challenge: his paddles wouldn’t hold up. They were constantly breaking and not sustainable enough to dispose of properly. He started thinking about solutions when he was in the market for a new paddle and, ultimately, he decided to build his own.
According to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association, Pickleball has grown by nearly 40% since 2020 and has been dubbed the fastest growing sport in America two years in a row. In the United States alone, there are almost 5 million players volleying a plastic ball across a net with paddles.
In 2016, the first Revolin pickleball paddle was born from scraps found in Davis’ garage. Since then, he and his sister Greta have quickly grown Revolin Sports from engineering a limited-edition paddle with Rock MacInnes, a builder who creates custom carbon fiber components for the US Paralympic winter team, to slowly introducing a product they can mass produce and sell. Their final paddles are made with low-impact alternative materials like algae ink, hemp and flax fibers, synthetic polymer and a Revolin-made material called BioFLX.
“Revolin wouldn’t be where it is today without the support of some key members of our team including Greta, Rock MacInnes and our Chief Marketing Officer Sophie Vanden Bosch,” said Davis. “But we also wouldn’t be here without the organizations that participated in our funding rounds, specifically Red Cedar Ventures.”
In fall of 2021, Revolin joined Spartan Innovations’ Conquer Accelerator Grand Rapids cohort where they received funding of $20,000, from Red Cedar Ventures. Each cohort in the 10-week program includes only five startups, and learning from the other chosen startups helped Hugh, Greta, and Sophie to expand Revolin’s market presence.
“Revolin impressed us with their drive and motivation for growth,” said Jeff Wesley, executive director of Spartan Innovations. “Having companies like them in the Conquer Accelerator gives us an opportunity to really watch people thrive in the positions they’ve built for themselves with our support.”
Although Revolin has participated in other programs, Conquer Accelerator stood out to him as a robust program that cared about Revolin beyond the return on investment.
“It doesn’t matter what the question is, if I need help the folks at Spartan Innovations are happy to assist us in finding an answer,” Hugh continued. “Being a part of the Conquer Accelerator cohort has given me not only mentors from that investor level, but also colleagues to bounce ideas off and work with. It’s great to have such invested teammates.”
Revolin has seen great growth since becoming an LLC in 2019 and officially launching at the end of 2020. Since their beginning, they have grown by an average of 500% (5x) year over year. They recently onboarded a chief operating officer with over 25 years of relevant experience to add further support to their growth strategy. Additionally, they have filed for international patent protection (PCT) on their natural fiber composite paddles as Pickleball has grown dramatically in the last decade outside the United Statesi.
Throughout the rest of the summer and into the fall, Revolin will continue to prioritize growth by
launching two new products, hiring a director of business development and expanding into more online and physical retailers across the country. The company also sells a line of branded apparel made from recycled plastic bottles and paddle grips that are biodegradable.
“There are a lot of exciting things coming for Revolin Sports,” said Davis. “We’re excited to take our company to the next level.”
To learn more, visit Revolin’s website at revolinsports.com
To learn more about Spartan Innovations and Red Cedar Ventures visit the Michigan State University Foundation at msufoundation.org.
About the Michigan State University Foundation
The Michigan State University Foundation is a non-profit research foundation focused on the mission of helping Michigan State University achieve its objectives around economic development through the commercialization of intellectual property created by its faculty, staff, and students. The MSU Foundation manages an endowment built from decades of licensing revenue. In addition to providing over $10 million in research funding to MSU annually, the MSU Foundation operates three wholly owned subsidiary organizations – Spartan Innovations, Red Cedar Ventures, Michigan Rise Pre-Seed III Fund - focused on technology commercialization, new venture creation and economic development.