A Strathclyde Business School student has raised £160,000 to fund a tech startup enabling families and carers to store memories and interact with loved ones in care.
Storii, a web-based platform, is designed to collate photos and videos from a host of sites, including Facebook, to enable users to log important memories and share them.
Cameron Graham, 21, came up with the idea while recuperating from kidney failure. He said, "I was in hospital for a short stay, and there was a gentleman with dementia on the same ward. I watched him light up when his daughter would visit and show him photographs, and he would suddenly remember previously-forgotten events and memories.
"But when visiting hour was over, he would retreat back into himself. I decided I wanted to do something to help people stimulate their precious memories at any time, day or night. And that's how Storii was born!"
Storii can be used in care homes or by home carers, and allows users to add their own content, as well as giving those closest to them access to upload family snaps and videos. Carers can log-in and show their residents what has been uploaded.
The technology also allows carers to better understand the people in their care and the stories of their lives, as well as enabling them to upload pictures of care home activities for families to see.
Cameron, who is on the final year of his Economics and Finance degree at Strathclyde, began coding while still at high school. He now leads a team of eight that has been developing the platform since 2014.
He said, "I've really enjoyed my course and we've had great support from the University. Storii was based at Strathclyde's Enterprise Hub for the first six months, and we have received brilliant support and advice from the Entrepreneurial Network and partners.
"The beta version of the platform is being tested by a number of care homes around Glasgow, and we're looking forward to releasing an iPad and iPhone app in summer this year.
"We want to be the go-to platform for anyone to store and share special moments, across all generations."
Storii gained private investment alongside a £100,000 Smart Award from Scottish Enterprise in January this year. View the beta site.