Peter Orrell wins Converge Challenge 2018 award

"Dr Orrell’s MycoNourish product customises the interactions of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and plant roots to suit specific production systems"

Hutton scientist Dr Peter Orrell has won the ‘Ready Steady Pitch’ award of the Converge Challenge 2018 with his MycoNourish product, which uses fungi to act as a secondary root system and improve plant health.

The result came after three days of comprehensive business training to showcase the most innovative ideas emerging from Scottish universities, and the ‘Ready Steady Pitch’ challenge saw entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to a panel of experts and industry professionals in just sixty seconds.

Dr Orrell said: “I am so excited and proud to have been chosen as the winner from the 30 Converge Challenge pitches. The training and support we received in the three days leading up to Ready Steady Pitch was immense.

"The confidence and abilities of everyone who participated has grown enormously and I am looking forward to applying these skills not just throughout the rest of the competition but beyond.”

The roll of honour was completed by runner-up Richard McAdam (Edinburgh Napier University) and third-placed Tayyaba Nafees (Abertay University).

Working in symbiosis with plants, mycorrhizal fungi act as a secondary root system, increasing plant health and improving the quantity and quality of crop yields. Dr Orrell’s MycoNourish product customises the interactions of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and plant roots to suit specific production systems, giving the best possible benefit to plants, and providing a reliable, sustainable means of improving yields and increasing sustainability.

The Converge Challenge is a leading, pan-Scotland, company creation programme for staff, students and recent graduates of Scottish universities and research institutes, with the aim of creating a new generation of entrepreneurs in Scotland. For more information, visit www.convergechallenge.com.