A STROUD businessman secured £100,000 worth of investment after appearing on the popular BBC Two television show Dragons' Den on Sunday night (August 25).

Ebley-based Richard Ernest convinced dragons Peter Jones and Deborah Meaden to stump up the six-figure sum between them to help him expand his burgeoning healthcare business.

The 35-year-old is the creator of the Reminiscence Pod or RemPod, an innovative product designed to improve the quality of life for people living in care and suffering with dementia.

A RemPod is essentially a pop-up room with accessories which transforms an ordinary space in a care home into a therapeutic and calming environment for residents.

Since founding RemPods in 2009, the father of two has supplied care homes up and down the country with the innovative products, which are credited with improving the psychological wellbeing of dementia sufferers.

The new £100,000 cash-injection, which the entrepreneur bagged in front of a television audience of around three million after impressing the dragons with his expertly-delivered pitch, will now be used to help grow the business.

Designed in clever retro themes, the RemPods are filled with memorabilia and authentic furniture from a bygone era, like old televisions and radios.

The pods, which are already used in over 40 NHS trusts, care homes, day-centres and care charities across the UK, simply pop up or down when needed making them easy for care home staff to use.

"All of our pods offer grounding and inner peace for people with dementia," said Mr Ernest.

"They also help to relieve boredom, work as a meaningful, fun activity and most importantly, build better care bonds between staff and their residents - helping to raise care standards."