A multidisciplinary team of growers, engineers, and developers.

An engineer and technology entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience building and scaling businesses across Africa. As co-founder of Powerhive, Rik developed, structured, and financed energy businesses in multiple African markets — giving him direct experience in the infrastructure, regulatory, and commercial challenges that define operating on the continent. He serves as a senior advisor to CrossBoundary Energy and previously the African Development Bank, and brings to Drylands the scaling playbook that turns a proven concept into a platform.

Raised in a long lineage of Dutch growers, Jan brings over 30 years of hands-on experience in high-yield, high-tech greenhouse operations all over the world. He has designed, owned, and operated more than 100 hectares of greenhouse production concurrently across the EMEA region and East Africa, including one of the most advanced facilities in the world, built in a desert environment. His expertise in growing under challenging climatic conditions is precisely what the African market demands, and what most local operators cannot replicate.

Thomas has spent his entire career in greenhouses, from growing up in them to designing and optimising them at the highest level. He has achieved 120kg/m² growing tomatoes on the vine, a benchmark that exceeds prevailing industry standards. At Drylands, Thomas leads system design and greenhouse specification, the technical foundation on which our yield and quality projections are built. He also oversees procurement and technology implementation and supports the growing teams.

An economist by training and a financial operator by experience, Arnout began his career at the Netherlands' largest energy network developer before building expertise in financial modelling, business structuring, and complex tender processes at major corporations. A CMA holder and co-founder of The Good Floor, he joined Drylands to bring institutional-grade financial rigour to a high-growth venture — ensuring that the numbers behind the business case are as robust as the agronomics.