About Us

Upperground is an independent private company that builds successful organisations in collaboration with teams. As an active shareholder, we use our strategic and operational expertise to support companies in achieving growth. Upperground was founded by an experienced entrepreneur who believes that value creation for stakeholders can be achieved through clear commitment and healthy ambition.

Upperground actively participates in its operating companies, adding experience in marketing, product, service and management, as well as a broad international network of professionals in various relevant industries. Upperground participates in companies in the field of agricultural products as well as the souvenir/collectible and merchandise industries.

Services

Upperground offer various services to organisations, amongst them consulting, advice, active participation and (interim) management. At Upperground we believe that people are key and therefore we collaborate actively with existing teams and try to build organisations together with the teams by empowering and coaching the people in order to allow them to reach their full potential. We have a broad in-house experience in the collectible, souvenir, merchandising and agricultural business as well as product marketing, branding, sales and customer service. Upperground believes in international collaboration, mixing different backgrounds and approaches builds the strongest teams and thereby the strongest companies.

The Founder

The founder and owner of Upperground is Jouke Piepenbrink, he is a multi-lingual enthusiast and specialist in the fields of collectibles, souvenirs, merchandising and agricultural products. He has worked for large multinational organizations in management and customers service positions but also in several medium sized companies. He understands wholesale, retail, distribution and production companies deeply and has experience in scaling up organizations from the start-up phase to the next level. Jouke holds a diploma in marketing at Nima. Also, he has followed the “ready to scale” programme at Ace Incubator, a programme which follows the Verne Harnish method for scaling up, also known as the Rockefeller Habits. Jouke’s international experience and language skills help him to work without borders and his international network of experienced professionals allows him to have a global view on the relevant markets.