MYCONOURISH, which uses fungi to improve crop production, was set up by Dr Peter Orrell last year. The company will formally launch next year and eventually plans to expand globally to countries where agriculture is not as high as it should be.

Name: Dr Peter Orrell

Age: 32

Position: Founder and CEO

WHAT’S THE BUSINESS CALLED?

MycoNourish

WHERE IS IT BASED?

Dundee

WHY DID YOU SET UP THE BUSINESS?

THE business got started from technology I developed while I was a researcher at James Hutton Limited. I wanted to make significant improvements to farming. I asked farmers if they had heard about the type of fungi that we were researching. They were excited about it and looking for products that didn’t exist, but which we had the scientific expertise to create.

Following my PhD at the institute, I secured a year of R&D funding to develop the technology when I started working at James Hutton Limited. I then got an enterprise fellowship from the Royal Society of Edinburgh and won second place at the Converge Challenge 2018 which allowed us to hire our first team member. This year we secured funding from Scottish Edge, where we won the Higgs Award. I have always wanted my own business. Since a young age I have always been interested in the business world and find it incredibly exciting. It allows you to make a difference to people’s lives.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

THERE are millions of different microbes in the world – some are good and some are bad – and they can have an impact on how crops grow. Many of these are found in soil. We specialise in “mycorrhizal fungi”, which act as a secondary root system for plants. The products out there at the moment are often one size fits all solutions, which have unpredictable effects on crops – they can either help plants or drain them of energy. We have developed a way of customising microbial strains, which allows us to tailor them for specific cropsand target a range of plant growth traits. It gives consistent results and is reliable.

WHAT IS YOUR TARGET MARKET?

WE work with high-value crops, so strawberries and tomatoes first and then we will expand in the coming years. Our fungi work with 87% of crops, but cabbage and brassicas are the exceptions.

HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM COMPETING BUSINESSES?

MOST existing products are a blend of several mycorrhizal fungi, which means their effect on crops are less predictable and vary in performance from one year to the next. It’s a one size fits all solution. Our products are advanced high-performance strains,

which have been tailored to suit specific crops. We’re taking what already happens in nature and refining the process for the highest benefit.

IS SCOTLAND A GOOD PLACE FOR THIS TYPE OF BUSINESS?

IT’S fantastic. We couldn’t ask for anywhere better. The support provided in Scotland is different to the normand many countries look to Scotland as an example of best practice. For example, there’s Converge Challenge, Scottish Edge and Scottish Enterprise – you don’t see those in other places. Scotland is also a large producer of high-quality strawberries. We are going through the final phase and will be ready to launch in the coming months – there has been strong interest from lots of sectors. Initially we need to focus on the first two crops, but it is great to already have interest for others so that we can plan our product development timeline.

WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT RUNNING THE BUSINESS?

IT’S exciting. Every day is different. We’re doing something no-one has done before and we can improve the agriculture industry in Scotland and beyond.

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE IN RUNNING THE BUSINESS?

JUGGLING many different priorities and at the same time. Funding is always an issue, but we are fortunate that Scotland is a very supportive business community, and there are a range of programs that help to support early stage companies.

WHERE DO YOU HOPE THE BUSINESS WILL BE IN 10 YEARS’ TIME?

WE plan to have expanded into a wide range of crops and additional territories.

We would also love to be able to supply developing nations where agriculture production is not as high as it could be. Mycorrhizal fungi can help to support crop production in a sustainable way.

We are concerned about Brexit. There are a lot of companies based in Europe. The Netherlands is huge for tomato production and a large portion of our customer base is there so that’s a potential impact of Brexit for us.