Shroot, Penarth's unique 'gifts that grow' company, has been announced as a finalist in the 2021 Wales Start Up Awards.

The business has been listed among a dozen nationwide startups in the highly competitive Rising Star category.

Shroot has been trading for just four months and has its roots in a lockdown hobby.

Local resident Jude Cook started growing microgreens on her windowsill during the first lockdown and quickly developed a passion for the little sprouters.

This passion led to her researching ways of posting and growing microgreens with minimal fuss or waste.

In a moment of inspiration, she came up with Greens & Greetings – a postable, watertight, plant pot and envelope in one.

The idea is to create a living gift with a personalised message, "the perfect way to send friends a family a greeting to let them know you're thinking of them".

Jude shared the idea with fellow Penarth mum and friend Carolyn Davies, an Ecology graduate who spent many years researching and writing for the BBC.

Together they formed Shroot and worked hard to hone the product and designs - a process that culminated in the development of three launch products.

The business been growing rapidly ever since. The duo have received glowing feedback from customers and their products are now being stocked by two retailers, including Hamptons on Ludlow Lane.

They applied to the Welsh Start Up Awards alongside 750 hopefuls and were thrilled to discover on Wednesday that they had reached the finals - which will take place in September.

"We're really, really happy to be shortlisted and really honoured," Carolyn told Nub News.

"When you set up a business and start selling a product, obviously you love it but you just hope others do too.

"We've only been running for less than four months, so we're really proud of ourselves."

Professor Dylan Jones-Evans, Assistant Pro-Vice Chancellor at the University of South Wales who created the awards back in 2016, was delighted at the high number of entries into this year's competition during the worst economic crisis ever.

"Over the last fifteen months, we have seen record numbers of new firms being created in Wales despite the challenges faced by businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic and this is reflected in the high quality and quantity of the entries to the awards which will make the final judging even more difficult this year," he said.

"In particular, the Rising Stars category for startups less than 12-months-old was the most competitive of all the categories and shows how new businesses have flourished despite the various lockdowns."

Forty-four per cent of the finalists are female entrepreneurs, and the two women behind Shroot say they' are proud to be among them.

They have lofty ambitions for the company and hope to "keep growing" their unique brand in the town and beyond.

Find out more by heading to their website.