Oaken is second announced startup to be launched from the DIAL Ventures’ studio program, which delivers innovative digital solutions to the agri-food industry

WEST LAFAYETTE, INDIANA, UNITED STATES, August 15, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ -- DIAL Ventures, a Purdue University Next Moves initiative, working in partnership with High Alpha Innovation, is announcing the launch of a new portfolio company, Oaken. Oaken aims to digitally connect farmers to all their stakeholders like lease processors, insurance companies and banks, starting with the landowner.

Farmland in the U.S. is disappearing at the rate of millions of acres every year. Forty-seven million acres of farmland have permanently been lost over the last 20 years, a size equivalent to New York state, according to the USDA's Farms and Land in Farms 2022 Summary. Even more shockingly at the current trend, the U.S. will continue to lose 20 million acres of farmland over the next 20 years. This loss not only creates challenges for our food security, but also environmental stability, as farmland absorbs close to a billion tons of CO2 annually. Oaken’s mission is to stem this trend by connecting farmland to its best stewards, the farmer, and keeping farmland productive and secure for the years to come.

Farmers spend $30B leasing this land from landowners in the U.S., yet this high value and critical relationship is managed manually through a combination of worksheets, files and repositories to keep on top of things. This leads to wasted time, missed dates and a state of unpreparedness when the transition conversation comes about.

By using Oaken, farmers and farmland managers will be able to manage all aspects of a farmland lease, including:

● Landowner, processor, bank and insurance company details.
● Creating, storing and managing binding and non-binding leases, disclosures, projects, reports and communications.
● Tracking payments schedules and history for all leases.
● Creating and manage land performance, historical farmland prices, audit and sustainability reports.

Oaken saves farmers and farmland managers time and hassle in the process.

"All farmers are painfully aware of the farmland transition statistics; however, managing their relationships with the landowners and presenting a picture of how they are stewarding the land has proven to be incredibly difficult," said Allan Gray, executive director of DIAL Ventures. "While each farmer wants to showcase their stewardship and be ready for the transition conversation, they lack the tools to do so, until now."

By launching Oaken in partnership with High Alpha Innovation, DIAL Ventures continues to deliver with its three-fold innovation strategy that hinges upon:

● Open innovation to benefit the agri-food industry.
● A fellowship program for top ideators and entrepreneurs.
● Strategic collaboration with corporate partners across all regions of the U.S.

Oaken is being spearheaded by Founder and CEO Shashi Raghunandan.

"We want to ensure that farmlands are connected to their best stewards, the farmers," Raghunandan said. "And this is just the start. Connecting the farmer to the land also means ensuring good relationships with farmland managers, buyers and bankers, which is where Oaken intends to expand."

Howard Halderman, president of Halderman Farm Management Service Inc., an early investor, and board member of Oaken, added, “All of our landowners, managers and institutional investors have an intense interest in how their farmland assets are performing. They like to know how it is producing, how the crop is doing and how it is being managed in a sustainable way. So, we are constantly on the lookout for ways to gather that data and make it effective in the management of that asset long term. That has led us to be engaged in and be a participant in the development of Oaken.”

According to Elliott Parker, CEO of High Alpha Innovation, with the unveiling of Oaken, “Our aim to boost the number of startups in Indiana is on track, thanks to the state's solid agricultural foundation that fosters software innovation and our partnership with DIAL Ventures. The opportunity to transform the agricultural industry and aid the food supply chain is exhilarating.”

For more information, visit Oaken’s website at www.oaken.ag, or contact Raghunandan at shashi@oaken.ag.

About DIAL Ventures
DIAL Ventures, the innovation arm of the Purdue Applied Research Institute (PARI), tackles big problems facing the U.S. and the world such as food safety, supply chain shortages, sustainability and environmental impact. DIAL Ventures creates new companies that drive innovation in the agri-food industry which, in turn, makes a positive impact in our lives and lifestyles for years to come. Learn more at www.dialventures.com.

About High Alpha Innovation
High Alpha Innovation is an Indianapolis-based venture builder that partners with corporations and universities to build advantaged startups. Its dedicated team of company builders, strategists, and designers apply a proven venture builder playbook — pioneered by High Alpha to help the world’s leading organizations innovate through systematic startup creation. Learn more about High Alpha Innovation at www.highalphainno.com.

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