Purdue DIAL Ventures names four Innovation Fellows for agrifood venture studio

Purdue DIAL Ventures selected four entrepreneurs for its 2026 Innovation Fellows program, the first venture studio under Fund II. The four-month effort starts Aug. 10 and is designed to turn Purdue-backed research into software companies that target high-value problems in agriculture and food.

Why it matters: - Purdue DIAL Ventures is using a research-first model to build agrifood startups around validated market problems instead of founder ideas. - The approach is designed to help agriculture and food companies invest in solutions tied to measurable business value. - Fund II gives strategic partners a path to join customer discovery, venture creation and investment opportunities with Purdue University and Grit Road Partners.

What happened: - Purdue DIAL Ventures named Adam Lazar, Gurkern Sufi, Joe Entelisano and Venkat Maroju as its 2026 Innovation Fellows. - The Fellows begin work Aug. 10 on the first venture studio under DIAL Ventures Fund II. - The selection followed a competitive national search. - The program is based in West Lafayette, Indiana.

The details: - The Fellows will work with producers, agribusiness leaders, food companies, researchers and investors to identify pressing agrifood challenges and build venture-backed software companies. - Purdue researchers synthesized evidence from 275 peer-reviewed studies, insights from 504 agrifood professionals, economic analyses and market trends. - That research produced 66 Strategic Opportunity Areas across the agrifood value chain. - The studio starts with validated problems and then moves into customer discovery and company creation. - Adam Lazar founded Asarasi and Nekter Pop, which created a beverage category using renewable tree water. - Gurkern Sufi built an AI and deep-tech company focused on bioinformatics, genetics and precision agriculture. - Joe Entelisano worked on software at Amazon, Wonder and TaskRabbit before co-founding FieldSim, an agriculture simulation platform built on technology licensed from Idaho National Laboratory. - Venkat Maroju has more than three decades of enterprise technology and digital agriculture experience, including leadership roles at Bose Automotive Division and SourceTrace. - SourceTrace grew a digital agriculture platform serving more than 2 million farmers across 30 countries. - DIAL Ventures says the four Fellows were chosen for repeated success building and commercializing technology companies outside agriculture as well as within it. - The 2026 Fellows bring experience in artificial intelligence, enterprise software, venture creation, consumer products and deep technology. - Through Fund I, Purdue DIAL Ventures completed six venture studio cycles and built an early-stage agrifood software portfolio. - That portfolio includes Croft, Gripp, Oaken, Fieldist, Nuel and Aerton. - PitchBook values the portfolio at more than $30 million.

Between the lines: - The model reduces startup risk by forcing founders to validate pain points before building products. - Purdue DIAL Ventures is positioning itself as a bridge between academic research and commercial agrifood innovation. - Recruiting entrepreneurs from outside agriculture signals a belief that cross-industry operators can bring fresh methods to old industry problems. - The emphasis on strategic partners suggests Fund II is as much a platform for collaboration as a fundraising vehicle.

What's next: - Over the next four months, the Fellows will conduct customer discovery across the agrifood value chain. - Their conversations will include producers, agribusinesses, processors, food manufacturers, researchers and technology providers. - The goal is to validate which market opportunities can support new software ventures. - Fund II remains open on a rolling basis for strategic partners interested in joining the studio. - More information is available at the company’s website.

The bottom line: - Purdue DIAL Ventures is betting that a research-backed venture studio can identify better agrifood startups faster and with more commercial discipline than a traditional startup program.