As an entrepreneur, Keith Agoada (BBA ’08) has traveled all over the globe: a journey that began at UW–Madison and the Wisconsin School of Business.
As an undergraduate student, Keith worked with tropical plants and produce in a campus greenhouse near Grainger Hall, which ignited his curiosity about food systems. Combining his interests in horticulture and business, he wrote a feasibility study on rooftop farming and developed a business plan around commercializing urban agriculture. Keith’s proposal ultimately won the business plan competition at the Wisconsin School of Business and became his first company, Sky Vegetables.
“That really propelled me into the food and agriculture sectors, which eventually led to me being looked at as a thought leader in the space,” he says. “I can’t speak highly enough of my Wisconsin experience and what it’s brought me.”
Through his latest entrepreneurial venture, Producers Trust, Keith works to support farmers across the world to increase their access to direct upstream markets, while providing farmer networks with data services and marketing tools to command better prices for their goods.
The company now partners with thousands of organizations across the globe representing over 4 million farmers—and while Producers Trust continues to grow and scale, Keith keeps the company’s focus on the individuals at the core of this work.
“We’re in service to real human beings on the ground and we always keep their livelihoods front and center.”