A BORN and bred Winchester entrepreneur has seen a dramatic increase in online funding after appearing on a popular television show.

Simon Weatherall, 33, originally from Winnall, appeared on Dragon’s Den last night (February 23) pitching for his wearable technology business Glowfaster.

Although he didn’t receive any investment from the dragons, his online ‘crowd funding’ page rocketed by £2,500 in the space of five minutes.

The former Royal Marine Commando said he has been inundated with support since the show aired, and has been invited to feature his smart jackets amongst thirty stalls at next month’s Wearable Technology Show in London, alongside the likes of Google Glass.

He said: “I haven’t got this far with everything without its ups and downs. The support has been unbelievable, my phone hasn’t stopped. My website had 4,000 hits last night (February 23), and it’s good to see the support is out there.

“I was going to just pack it all in if I didn’t get anywhere, because I have been working on it for two years, so now I know people believe in the products and the ideas, I’m going forward.

“It’s been very exciting, and it all depends on what happens over the next three months.”

Mr Weatherall, who grew up on Winnall Council Estate and now lives in Eastleigh, said he took a lot away from his experience in the den.

“I’m not your average person that would appear on the show,” he said.

“I left school with two GCSE’s, neither of them in Maths or English, and look what I have achieved.

“When I first left the den you come out and think they didn’t invest, but I took away the key points.”

The father-of-one is aiming for £35,000 of investment on crowd-funding website, Kickstarter, to set his plans in to motion.