Capital Comes with Community: How The Forum Helped Sara Jónsdóttir Build the Network That Funded Revol Cares' $2M Round
For Sara Jónsdóttir, entrepreneurship began with a moment of vulnerability that many people with periods can relate to.
During an internship, she experienced a leak that would ultimately inspire her life's work. "After years of clumsily 'dealing' with my period and bleeding through every product I tried, I was sick and tired of spending time and money on products that didn't work," she explains.
That frustrating experience became the catalyst for what would become Revol Cares, a Vancouver-based period underwear company specifically designed for those with heavy flows, which recently secured $2 million in funding from Canadian angel investors. This will enable Sara and the Revol Cares team to significantly scale the business, expand to new markets, and keep up with increasing demand.
Sara's journey from a frustrating personal experience to a $2 million funding round required the support of people who understood her vision. As a 2024 Finalist of The Odlum Brown Forum Pitch, Canada’s leading pitch program for women entrepreneurs, she found herself in good company. In fact, she met every single investor for the raise through The Forum community.
Her story is a testament to the impact and innovation that’s made possible when women entrepreneurs have access to a community that sees and values their experience, vision, and immense potential.
From Personal Pain Point to Business Vision
When the leak happened during her internship, Sara channeled her frustration into her final design project at university—creating period underwear to protect those with heavy flows. The positive feedback she received at her final showcase convinced her to take the leap into entrepreneurship.
"Deciding enough was enough, I put my technical fashion degree to use and set out to develop period underwear that could protect even a heavy bleeder like me all day long," Sara explains.
What started as a university project became a mission-driven business when she launched Revol Cares in 2019.
The early days were hands-on in every sense. "[I] eventually started an Etsy shop and was like hand-sewing every single pair myself, so I started very organically," Sara tells BC Business. But she knew that to truly solve the problem for heavy bleeders everywhere, she'd need to scale.
Finding The Forum: A Launch Pad for Authentic Connection
Sara discovered The Odlum Brown Forum Pitch program at that pivotal moment.
During her speech at The Forum’s 2025 Rooftop Reception, she explains that “What started it all off was pitching at The Odlum Brown Forum Pitch. Prior to that, not many people knew me. [It] was the definition of a launching pad for me.”
As a Finalist in the program, Sara approached her pitch with determination and authenticity. "I really went into that pitch trying to get as much out of it as possible. I worked with every mentor I could.” She deeply valued how generous they were with their time and found no shortage of support as she worked to improve and refine her pitching skills.
When the time came to take the stage at The Odlum Brown Forum Pitch Finale, Sara was ready to share her story and connect with a cross-Canada audience of potential investors, collaborators, and champions. "I was so excited to share my heavy flow experience with 800 people in the room and just tell them everything about what we were doing," she said during her speech. "It really felt like I had this opportunity to have a spotlight on our company and myself as a founder."
The Forum's Impact: Educate, Activate, Elevate
Sara's experience with The Forum perfectly demonstrates our three core social impact pillars in action:
1. Educate: The mentorship and coaching Sara received through The Odlum Brown Forum Pitch equipped her with candid insights and essential business knowledge. The program went beyond presentation skills to provide real, strategic guidance that came from experienced entrepreneurs and business leaders who understood what it takes to scale a business.
2. Activate: Rather than treating the program as a one-time event, Sara saw it as the beginning of a long-term community-building strategy. "I just immediately took all of the flow that came in after that, the people connecting with me on LinkedIn, people wanting to have coffee and all that, and I really [thought of] it like a full-time job," she shared during her speech.
Sara's approach to networking was genuine and relationship-focused. "I was [determined to] build the community around me because I believed part of a successful raise [included] a community [that would] stand behind me as I did it," she said. "A lot of my networking was just going to have coffee and talking to people to learn about their life and their experiences.” The genuine connections Sara formed through the program helped her learn more from the seasoned entrepreneurs and business leaders she interacted with, helping her gain perspective that would help inform her next steps.
3. Elevate: The visibility Sara gained as a Finalist created opportunities that extended far beyond the initial program. The platform helped establish her credibility in the entrepreneurial ecosystem and connected her with the network that would ultimately fund her growth.
Sara’s Strategic Fundraise
What appeared to be a remarkably quick fundraising process was actually the result of careful, strategic community building.
Leading up to her Pitch experience, Sara consistently deflected fundraising inquiries as she built her network and pursued connections with the right people whose vision and values aligned with hers. "Every time somebody would ask me, are you raising? I'd say no.” The trigger moment came in late 2024, when three major retailers committed to significantly expanding their Revol Cares presence. "We got news that they were going to pretty massively expand their stores for us, and I thought, OK, now’s the time," Sara shared during her speech.
When Sara shared the news she was ready to raise with her network, the investors she met through The Forum were keen to support Revol Cares through its next phase of expansion and unlock more opportunities together.
Building Trust That Translates to Investment
Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of Sara's fundraising success is the fact that it all came from one source. "For the [$2M fundraising] round that closed in January, 100% of the investors came from this community," Sara revealed during her speech at The Forum's Rooftop Reception. "Some of them saw me at the pitch, some of them were connected to The Forum’s network, and some of them I met through The Forum’s programs.”
Sara’s success validates her strategic approach to community building and demonstrates the incredible power of The Forum's network in supporting women entrepreneurs' growth.
Scaling for Impact: What the Funding Enabled
The $2 million investment has allowed Revol Cares to accelerate its growth significantly.
"For me, personally, this means a lot. Women are notoriously underfunded," Sara told BC Business. "I felt incredible reassurance from people that were coming on board in their belief in me as a founder."
The funding enabled several key growth initiatives:
Team expansion: Growing from a small startup to 13 employees
Inventory scaling: Increasing production to meet growing demand while adding to Revol Cares’ range of inclusive styles
Growing presence online and in major retailers: Expanding to capture share in the rapidly expanding sustainable period wear market, which shows 29% annual growth.
Sara and her Co-Founder and husband, Mayo Santos, have grown the brand "from home-made to worldwide,", with Revol Cares products now medically recognized by the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada.
Building a Movement, Not Just a Business
Beyond the business metrics, Sara's mission centres on transforming experiences for people with periods. "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 told BC Business.
The company's next ambitious goal reflects this mission-driven approach: "Now, our next goal is to elevate the experiences of 100 million people with periods and create a space where everyone feels like they can be 'Free to Bleed,'" Sara states.
The Competitive Advantage of Community
Sara's story illustrates a powerful approach to entrepreneurial success that goes beyond traditional fundraising tactics. Her experience shows that authentic relationship building, combined with the right support system, can create sustainable pathways to capital.
"We're able to move faster and actually do better work. And that is just such a breath of fresh air," Sara told BC Business about the impact of her successful raise. Her journey shows how The Forum's comprehensive approach—education, activation, and elevation—can create lasting connections that fuel long-term growth.
For women entrepreneurs looking to follow a similar path, Sara's experience offers a clear model: invest in authentic relationships, leverage community support systems like The Forum, and be strategic about timing. As Sara’s proved, when you build your community first, the capital and business growth follow.