Aurora Tyas and her Pop&Go Knickers failed to sway the investors

An innovative outdoors entrepreneur failed to impress television’s Dragons with her novel underwear.

Aurora Tyas’s pitch in Dragons’ Den for investment in her Pop&Go Knickers fell on deaf ears, though businessman Piers Linney said the Corsican-born woman was ‘an embodiment of an entrepreneur’.

Ms Tyas, who was described in the BBC2 programme as a backpacker, asked for a £65,000 investment in her product, in return for a 20 per cent in her company.

Investors Peter Jones, Deborah Meaden, Duncan Bannatyne, Piers Linney and Kelly Hoppen were unimpressed by the concept of her quick-drying underwear with fasteners on the sides, enabling wearers to quickly change and freshen up without having to take off all their lower items of clothing and shoes.

Ms Tyas has aimed her underwear idea principally at the outdoor market.

She said the technical underwear was specifically designed for women who travel and participate in outdoor pursuits, so that they can be sure of staying comfortable while living their lives to the max.

She said: “I invented the underwear concept on my round-the-world trip because nothing existed to solve this common problem found among travellers and people who do a lot of outdoor activities.

“After hours trekking or mountain climbing, believe me, you do get sweaty and uncomfortable.

“Now if you are near home or a hotel you would go and shower and wear fresh clothes, but if you are camping on a multi-day trekking adventure, or you are due to spend the night on a terrible night bus across South America, then showering and changing clothes isn’t an option.

“However I found that even if all your clothes smell and your body feels sweaty, the simple fact of changing underwear makes you feel instantly better.

“However toilet cubicles on night buses are either non-existent, or tiny, filthy with a door that doesn’t lock, so trying to remove your trousers and shoes to change underwear just isn’t the most practical option.

“Simple fasteners on the sides of the underwear seemed to do the trick to avoid the balancing act though, and so I carried on my world trip always feeling comfortable and refreshed no matter what crazy activities I had done.”

Ms Tyas will continue to market her underwear. She said Pop&Go Knickers use the best technical fabric currently available on the market. “The Dri Release fabric is extremely soft and cottony and dries four times faster than regular cotton underwear,” she said.

“Its technical quick dry and anti-microbial properties are built into the yarn so they never wash away.”

Sam Fountain also failed to secure investment from the BBC Dragons

The Corsican is not the only female entrepreneur to have below-the-belt inventions turned down by the TV Dragons.

In 2005 Samantha Fountain failed to convince the sniggering panel of investors to pump money into her Shewee invention, which allows women to urinate standing up.

Her company has grown into a major player in the outdoor world, expanding its range of female hygiene products for active women.

The Dragon’s Den episode can be seen by UK viewers on the BBC iPlayer until 9 March. Aurora Tyas’s appearance begins about 18mins 30secs in.