Grit Road Partners, the Nebraska-based venture capital firm supporting agtech advancements in the Midwest, announced its collaboration with DIAL Ventures, a Purdue University-affiliated venture studio centered on the ag and food space. Leaders of both organizations said they see this opportunity as a way to tap into each other’s networks while developing proven solutions to the food supply chain.

Grit Road Co-founder and Managing Partner Mike Jung said his firm will be acting as general partner and managing entity of DIAL Ventures Fund II — which completed its first close. 

With partner support, DIAL Ventures seeks to generate both agrifood leaders and startups. It accomplishes this by fostering direct interactions among the university ecosystem, industry stakeholders and cohort members participating in its fellowship program.

DIAL Ventures Managing Director Jarrod Sutton said DIAL Ventures originated in 2020 out of the Purdue Applied Research Institute. PARI’s mission is to apply Purdue University’s academic infrastructure and research capabilities to real-world needs. 

The goal of launching DIAL Ventures “was to really help find ways to engage tech entrepreneurs, people who are in fact digital natives and think with a digital-first mindset, and expose them to the agrifood industry by engagement,” Sutton said. 

Sutton added that entrepreneurs do not join the fellowship program with business ideas in hand, but instead they generate ideas through talking with multiple potential customers and clients and learning their true pain points. 

Through the course of DIAL Ventures Fund I, six cohort cycles occurred, leading to a portfolio of companies with a touted valuation of over $30 million based on Pitchbook findings. With the rolling close of DIAL Ventures Fund II, there is now financial backing to pursue solutions for modern-day pain points. These include areas such as artificial intelligence adoption and workforce management. 

“As it comes to validation of concepts or ideas, as it comes to business development, go-to-market strategy, finding customers, we play a role in helping to shepherd those companies to realize their full potential,” Sutton said, “just as our new partners and friends at Grit Road do.” 

Jung said he and his co-founder, Ben Williamson, have been very aware of DIAL Ventures’ efforts and outcomes, investing in the portfolio companies Croft and Oaken that developed out of the studio. 

Launching its first fund in 2023, Grit Road Partners has gone on to expand its own portfolio to over 20 companies. It has also continued to work with the Nebraska entrepreneurial community to converge and convene industry players. The firm is deploying capital from its recently launched second fund, investing in local companies such as Marble and Cattler. 

Jung said this partnership was an opportunity to “get behind the curtain” of DIAL Ventures and its practices, as well as identify Nebraska connections that could mutually benefit from contributing to the initiative. 

“It goes towards the goal of trying to really build up this agtech ecosystem here in Nebraska as well as the Midwest,” Jung said. “Having this more cross-state, regional kind of partnership really exemplifies that approach. It’s a team effort.”

Sutton said his team has begun searching for participants to join the seventh fellows cohort starting in August. The application window closes July 5. 

Sutton said DIAL Ventures is looking for experienced entrepreneurs interested in getting “dirt on their shoes” and developing original startups. He added that the studio is on the lookout for corporate, industry and investor partners. 

“The cool thing about our industry is that it’s the only economy that touches every single person in the entire world,” Sutton said. “Everybody eats.”

You can learn more about DIAL Ventures here.