Complete Farmer Joins Endeavor, Bringing Ghanaian Entrepreneurship into a Global Network

Founded by Desmond Koney after firsthand experience on his family's farm, Complete Farmer is building new pathways for more than 72,000 smallholder farmers across Ghana and Togo to reach global markets.

Desmond Koney never planned to become a farmer.

He studied Mechanical Engineering at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, where he graduated as valedictorian, and later spent a year in China studying hardware manufacturing. In 2017, he co-founded Cibus Technologies, a renewable energy company, and was building a career far removed from agriculture.

Then his father passed away, and Desmond inherited the family's pineapple farm outside Accra.

Running the farm gave him a perspective that could not have been gained from a distance. He saw how difficult it was for smallholder farmers to find reliable buyers, access financing and reach the markets where their produce could command greater value. Even when demand existed, farmers often had limited information about what buyers needed, while the systems connecting them to those buyers remained fragmented.

For Desmond, these were not simply realities to be accepted. They were systems that could be redesigned.

He began asking what agriculture might look like if it were built around the people who actually grow the food: if farmers could know what buyers needed before they planted, access the right inputs and financing, and sell into markets beyond the networks immediately around them.

Those questions became the foundation for Complete Farmer.

Building Around the Farmer

Today, Complete Farmer is an agricultural trading company connecting smallholder farmers across Ghana and Togo with international commodity buyers. The company works with more than 72,000 farmers, buying crops at farmgate prices and supplying international buyers including Aldi and Lidl.

But the company has built more than a marketplace.

A network of more than 350 field agents works directly with farmers in their communities, helping them understand crop requirements and follow production protocols. Eight fulfillment centres support aggregation, grading and export logistics, creating the physical infrastructure needed to move crops from farms into international markets.

The model is deliberately designed around the realities of the communities Complete Farmer serves. Many farmers operate in areas with limited internet access, low digital adoption or limited access to smartphones. Technology alone cannot solve those challenges.

Instead, Complete Farmer combines technology with people and physical infrastructure, using field agents who understand the communities they work in and fulfillment centres that give farmers a way to participate even when they cannot rely entirely on a digital platform.

That combination is part of what impressed Danielle Du Toit, CEO and Founder of Humanify and a member of the International Selection Panel that evaluated Desmond.

Rather than accept those challenges, Desmond approached them as problems to be solved, asking what agriculture could look like if it were redesigned around the people who actually grow our food. Those questions, Danielle observed, became the foundation for Complete Farmer.

The results are increasingly visible in the lives of the farmers Complete Farmer works with. Farmers following the company's protocols have recorded average yield improvements of 18–22%, while profit increases have ranged from 11–18%. More than 90% of crops reaching Complete Farmer's fulfillment centres meet international buyer standards.

Behind each of those numbers is a farmer who has the opportunity to earn more from the same land, reach a market that may previously have been out of reach, and capture a greater share of the value created by their work.

Complete Farmer by the Numbers

The company has also expanded beyond agricultural trading, developing a marketplace for farming inputs and equipment and a credit product that uses farm data to help farmers access financing without relying solely on traditional credit histories.

The opportunity ahead is significant. Complete Farmer already supplies international buyers such as Aldi and Lidl, but in 2025 the company was able to fulfill only 28% of purchase orders. The challenge, as Danielle observed during the selection process, is not a lack of demand. It is building enough high-quality, traceable supply to meet it.

That creates a different kind of growth opportunity: one where scaling the company also means expanding the number of African farmers who can participate in the global agricultural economy.

A Founder Thinking Beyond His Own Company

The ambition behind Complete Farmer was also evident throughout Endeavor's selection process.

Desmond went through a multi-stage selection journey that culminated at Endeavor's International Selection Panel in Athens, Greece, where experienced entrepreneurs, business leaders and investors assessed the company and its potential for high-impact growth.

He described the process as intense, but valuable precisely because the conversations went beyond evaluation.

The conversations challenged Complete Farmer from different angles, including product development and impact, scaling operations, entering new markets and strengthening its embedded finance strategy. For Desmond, the value extended beyond the panel itself, as the relationships formed through the process have continued to provide mentorship, introductions and connections to resources that can support the company's next stage of growth.

That openness to feedback was also evident to the Endeavor Nigeria team that worked with Desmond throughout the selection journey.

Desmond was selected alongside 27 other entrepreneurs leading 16 companies from markets across Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East and the Americas. The cohort included founders from Portugal, Italy, Ukraine, Ghana, Brazil, Spain, Chile, Jordan, Pakistan, Mexico, the United States, Colombia, Poland and Morocco.

Together, the cohort reflects the breadth of entrepreneurship across markets and industries and the increasingly global nature of the Endeavor network.

From Ghana to the World

Complete Farmer joins the Endeavor network at a moment when Desmond's ambitions extend beyond the growth of his own company.

Throughout the selection process, he spoke about his desire to contribute to Ghana's entrepreneurial ecosystem, learn from other founders and eventually support the entrepreneurs coming behind him. That ambition aligns closely with Endeavor's model: entrepreneurs are selected not only for what they have built, but also for their potential to contribute to the wider entrepreneurial ecosystem as they grow.

Ross Armon, who supported Desmond's journey from the Endeavor global office and sat in on his interviews throughout the selection process, saw that potential firsthand. During the International Selection Panel, Desmond's thoughtfulness and understanding of the farmers he serves stood out to the panel, as did his willingness to learn from the mistakes of other businesses.

Ross also sees Desmond as someone who can become an important multiplier within Ghana's growing startup ecosystem, describing him as someone committed to paying it forward to the next generation of founders.

That combination — a company addressing a significant structural problem, a founder with a deeply personal connection to it, and an ambition that extends beyond the business itself — is what makes Complete Farmer a strong fit for Endeavor.

For Endeavor Nigeria Managing Director Ireayomide Oladunjoye, the significance of the selection extends beyond the company itself.

Desmond's selection was shaped by the perspectives of entrepreneurs, mentors, business leaders and investors who contributed throughout the process. Endeavor Nigeria is grateful to Yemisi Ayeni, Tim Steel, Yemi Osindero, Simon Bakker, Danielle Du Toit and Shari Loessberg for the time, experience and perspective they brought to Desmond's selection journey.

The International Selection Panel brought together 25 experienced entrepreneurs, investors and business leaders from across the Endeavor network, including Edgar Bronfman Jr. of Waverley Capital, Nick Beim of Venrock, Alexis Pantazis of Hellas Direct, Andreas Stavropoulos of Threshold Ventures, Melvyn Lubega of Baobab Group and Go1, Cordel Robbin-Coker of Carry1st, Mona Ataya of Mumzworld and Bayt.com, Monica Brand Engel of Quona Capital, Danielle Du Toit of Humanify, Shari Loessberg of MIT Sloan School of Management, and other members of the Endeavor network.

For Desmond, joining the network is both recognition and responsibility.

He sees the opportunity as extending beyond Complete Farmer.

With Complete Farmer connecting tens of thousands of farmers to global markets, Desmond's next chapter is about building on that impact through a bigger network, a bigger opportunity and an ambition that extends well beyond the company itself.