HOLLAND, Mich. — It almost seems as if every good invention starts in a garage. For siblings Hugh and Greta Davis, their story is no different.
Before their home was an office space though, it was a playground. On summer breaks in high school and college, they would meet up with neighbors in Holland and set up a few nets in driveways to play pickleball.
Hugh said they would sometimes have as many as 16 people out there.
They immediately fell in love with the sport but just as quickly ran into some issues.
"I broke like 100 paddles," said Hugh. "Not actually, but many, many paddles in those first few years.”
“Just playing normally," he added, "but playing probably harder and more often than your average player at that time. The sport was in its infancy. So the paddles weren't being stress tested by millions and by younger players as often.”
It wasn't only Hugh. All his friends were breaking paddles too. He just became the guy who fixed them.
“First it was just a hobby, but it became clear — there's some business potential there too," he said.
The initial motivation was to create a paddle that promised high performance. Then, Hugh realized he could build exactly that using sustainable materials. So he enlisted the help of Greta, a fellow engineer, to bring that vision to life.
Thus, Revolin Sports was born.
They got to work in the garage, spending countless hours tinkering with tons of different materials and combinations.
“The first paddle was made out of carbon fiber," Hugh said. "That's what most paddles are made out of today — carbon fiber and fiberglass. We started there, because we didn't know any better.”
He continued to say, “After a few years, and maybe 20 to 30 prototypes, we moved to our first-ever natural fiber. [It was] a flax fiber."
Hugh and Greta continued to pump out prototypes until 2019 when they sold their first paddle. It was proof they had a great idea — it just hadn't been perfected yet.
It wasn't until September 2020 when Revolin Sports officially nailed down the technology and launched its first full lineup.
"Our paddles are sustainable because this surface, which is normally carbon fiber or fiberglass, [has been] replaced that with hemp and flax — natural fibers," Hugh said. "So these natural fibers, they grow from the earth, they're absorbing CO2, they're harvested, woven, and they create a really lightweight, really durable composite.”
Revolin now has a patent pending on the materials they use and the process to make their paddle.
Since that initial launch, Revolin has now sold to customers in 43 states and a few countries.
What was once a small startup with an uncertain path is now a successful brand with a bright future.
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