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Become A Fellow

Field application

Opportunity Description

At DIAL Ventures we solve the biggest challenges in Agrifood, one of the fastest-growing industry investment segments. Our Fall 2026 cohort puts AI to work against the costly frictions that run across the agrifood supply chain, in high-impact areas like sustainability, traceability, food safety, and environmental impact.

Participant Profile

Innovation Fellows are entrepreneurs at heart, driven to build something that matters. They take smart risks in pursuit of big rewards, and they are humble enough to learn from their mistakes and take coaching from experienced startup veterans. They lead by collaborating, and they win as a team. They move fast, measure their progress, and adjust course when the evidence calls for it. They have the resilience to hear many noes on the way to a yes, and the confidence to engage industry experts and executives as equals. And they sweat the details, documenting what they learn along the way.

Venture Studio Activities

  • Ideas sourced from industry and research.
  • Concept testing with industry partners.
  • Business and market entry plan development.
  • Pre-seed stage funding to launch your company (up to $500K).
  • Assist with business creation resources such as software, product design, key hiring, marketing, financial and legal.
  • Minimum viable product definition.
  • Field trial facilitation with industry partners.
  • Initial sales opportunities with industry partners.
  • Help in securing seed funding to transition into company growth.
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Commitment

Our studio is conducted twice each year with new Fellows entering as a cohort every February and August. They will be fully engaged in the company build and launch process according to the following projected schedule:

  • Weeks 1 to 8 - Industry learning, industry expert jobs-to-be-done, opportunity ideation and prioritization, value proposition development, startup leadership curriculum.
  • Weeks 9 to 18 - Solution definition, wireframe testing, go-to-market strategy, financial modeling, business plan development and pitch for pre-seed funding.
  • Weeks 19 to 30 - Company incorporation, select Board, recruit team members, product development, secure field trials, company branding & marketing, capture initial customers.

Our program utilizes a residency model where the cohorts are together for a set schedule of one two-week, and then two one-week intervals. The residency session locations vary within each cohort but typically will include time in the West Lafayette-Central Indiana area, and one regional residency at sites on the West Coast, or in the Southwest, or Southeast U.S regions. The residency sessions are intense hands-on in-field and classroom learning experiences designed to teach you the agri-food industry and prepare you to run a startup. When not in residency work is done in a remote-first environment with the DIAL Ventures team and our studio partners.

Compensation

  • Range of $5,750 to $8,000 per month based on career experience in the selected industry theme: AI in Ag for Fall of 2026, lasting for the six-month period from ideation to business concept approval and investment memo creation.
  • Beyond six months your compensation and benefits plan will be negotiated with your Board in conjunction with business approval, funding and launch.
  • Round trip travel, accommodations, and scheduled meals while in residency.
  • Company ownership of 65% for the founding team and their designated employee stock pool.
  • Continued participation in the Fellows program is dependent on performance milestones established in the venture studio process. Although DIAL Ventures and its studio partners will provide assistance and desire to see success in all cases, there is no guarantee that a Fellow will graduate as a company founder.

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Questions?

This Innovation Fellows FAQ addresses many of the common inquiries. If there are other questions or concerns, please contact us at steeledl@purdue.edu.

Apply Now!

We are creating innovation in the agrifood industry by launching new startups every six months! We invite you to join our next cohort with the opportunity to become a company founder. The first step is to download our application instructions using the link above where you will see more detail on the position and the evaluation process. Our next studio cycle launches August 3, 2026, where we will concentrate on AI applications in the agrifood supply chain. The Innovation Fellows application window is now open for the Fall '26 cohort and will close on July 5, 2026. Start your journey with DIAL Ventures now!