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A young agritech entrepreneur from Angus has scooped another £10,000 making it £20,000 in total, in the Scottish Edge competition.

Tom Porter, of Carnoustie, started his own business, AgriAudit, on his father’s farm at East Scryne.

Earlier this year, he was presented with a £10,000 regional Edge award – part of a Scotland-wide scheme supporting young entrepreneurs – at a ceremony in Dundee.

And he has now matched that in the 25th round of Scottish Edge.

Tom, 24, was among 35 winners sharing £1.5 million in prize money.

His latest prize came in the Young Edge category and was presented at a ceremony in Glasgow.

“Winning the Young Edge Awards means a lot,” he said.

“It’s great to see support from something that’s been built from the ground up by farmers, for farmers.”

Tom’s app is designed to ease the audit burden on UK farmers and growers.

By minimising the time spent searching for, printing and uploading documents, AgriAudit eliminates duplication throughout the audit process.

Users can prepare for their audits from a central dashboard, and there is a tracker to monitor progress towards each one.

The idea took off after Tom was given responsibility for audits on the family farm.

He quickly realised how complex, demanding and time-consuming the task can be.

Celebrating his Edge awards, he said: “This funding has allowed us to crack on with building the AgriAudit web app to complement the mobile app, as well as add more features.

“We must make audits easier and less of a headache, so farmers can spend less time on paperwork and more time in the field.”

The Young Edge scheme is aimed at Scotland’s most promising young entrepreneurs.

It is supported by Royal Bank of Scotland, Scottish Enterprise (SE), the Hunter Foundation and the Scottish Government.

Meanwhile, the biggest winner at the latest Scottish Edge awards was Vanilla Farms, of Inverurie, Aberdeenshire.

It cures and supplies premium-quality vanilla using sustainable, high-tech agriculture.

Vanilla Farms received £150,000 for winning the Missions Edge competition category.

SE innovation and investment managing director Jane Martin said: “It will be exciting to see what is nest in store for these agritech entrepreneurs.”

Tom’s dad, James, produces soft fruit as well as potatoes, barley, wheat and beans at East Scryne Farm.

This article appeared in The Courier on 22 May 2025