Become A Fellow

One of our goals is to give top entrepreneurs "on-the-job training" in order to become the founder of an innovative agri-food technology company. You have a chance to be a startup leader without the typical roadblocks and hurdles entrepreneurs face launching a company in a new industry!

As a DIAL Ventures Innovation Fellow, you will build robust connections with industry experts and be connected to investors, foundation program offices, policy specialists, and other entrepreneurs to grow and inform your business. You will engage with industry to identify critical needs and challenges, then work closely with Purdue faculty, staff, and students to discover potential ways to address those challenges.

Our semi-annual cohort of fellows enters with backgrounds across all industries and technologies and through the DIAL Ventures studio process, engage agricultural industry partners, generate high-priority jobs-to-be-done, create novel solutions, assemble go-to-market and business plans to fund and launch their startups, and serve as founders in growing their businesses.

We provide research assistance to define your market and better understand customer needs and interests. DIAL will also help develop your narrative, improve your sales pipeline, and pitch with you. We’ll even make sure you have the right people, fill out your team, sit on your advisory boards, and help you gain access to sources of capital.
‍
__________

Building on the success of our latest single-themed Climate-Smart studio cycle, our next focus will be Food is Health. To prepare thoroughly, we’ve decided to pause the Spring 2025 studio cycle, allowing us to achieve our high standards in co-creating companies with the agrifood and, now, health industries. While this delay may disappoint some, it ensures we can deliver our best startup outcomes in the Fall 2025 cycle. Thank you for your continued support and enthusiasm as we work together to build impactful ventures!

View our innovation fellows Become A Fellow

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is accepted as an Innovation Fellow?

Our goal is to build each of our cohorts from varying professions, industries, educational levels, and personal backgrounds. Great entrepreneurs don’t fit any single mold. Yet, there are some key experiences and profile characteristics we are seeking in those Fellows that may transition to potential co-founders, including, 1) leadership and drive, 2) innovation and creativity, 3) intelligence and critical thinking, 4) collaboration and teamwork, and 5) communication and empathy.

What is the time period for the Innovation Fellowship program?

The program consists of two phases. The first is the ideation-to-concept phase which lasts a little under 6 months and includes work with experts in the Food and Agriculture industry to solve some of the biggest challenges we face. The second phase, coincident with pre-seed funding, is the business build phase where we add critical functional resources to your company such as software engineering, product design, and marketing, along with legal and human resources as needed getting you to product and revenue quickly.

Does DIAL Ventures pre-determine what the companies will be?

No. We feel the best outcomes result from a free flow of ideas in successive steps of broadening, then narrowing, and prioritizing. As a fellow you will lead this activity through each process stage and based on your investigation of the market and consultation with industry leaders, you will determine the solutions and companies that will be launched by DIAL Ventures.