A pet firm owner intends to use investment secured after appearing on the BBC hit series Dragons’ Den to fast track the growth of her business.
Rebecca Sloan appeared in the Den earlier this month and managed to persuade the newest Dragon, Steven Bartlett, to part with £50,000 in return for a 20% stake in her company.
Canadian-born animal lover Rebecca unveiled her Piddle Patch product in the Den, and received four investment offers as the Dragons were impressed with the soil-free, real-grass toilet for dogs.
“Steven’s investment will allow us to fast track the growth of Piddle Patch, as well as launch a number of new products currently in development,” said Rebecca. “Steven’s advice, guidance, social media and marketing expertise will be invaluable and I am delighted to be working with him.”
Piddle Patch is an intuitive way to house-train dogs, teaching them to only toilet on grass and not on textiles. This helps to reduce accidents in the home and speeds up the house-training process. It’s the ideal solution for toilet-training a puppy, for dogs without easy access to an outdoor space, or for owners looking after a poorly or incontinent pet.
Piddle Patch is a natural alternative to puppy pads which are mass-produced plastic products and can take up to 500 years to degrade in landfill. Piddle Patch grass is 100% biodegradable and its packaging can be recycled.
The product is grown in recycled textiles, instead of soil, to produce a longer lasting grass with a thick root system. It prevents muddy paw prints from being tracked into the home. The grass is grown and harvested in the UK, without the use of chemicals or pesticides, and delivered direct to the door on a subscription basis, or as a one-off purchase.
Rebecca added: “The inspiration for Piddle Patch came during a visit to the park. The dogs were happy to be in their natural environment and the stress associated with toilet time melted away because the dogs knew instinctively where to do their business. When house training a dog, it makes sense to teach them to behave as they would in the outside world – and so Piddle Patch was born.”
Steven Bartlett is the latest, and youngest-ever entrepreneur to join Dragons’ Den. The 29-year-old replaced Tej Lalvani on the 19th season of the hit BBC programme. He is founder of Social Chain, a marketing agency worth over £50 million.
Rebecca’s appearance on Dragons’ Den can be viewed on BBC iPlayer by clicking here. She enters the Den after 43 minutes of the programme.
