Ainara Arcelus is an Associate at Arable Capital Partners and joined the firm in 2022. Ainara works on industry analysis, company due diligence, and financial valuation and reporting for the firm, and supports structuring of its current and prospective investments.

Prior to joining the firm, Ainara was an Investment Associate with Farmers Gate, a fund that invests in and operates specialty crop farmland. She was also a graduate intern at Hancock Natural Resource Group, an asset manager specializing in global farmland and timberland portfolio development and management.

Ainara began her career in quantitative consulting, focusing on supply chain analytics for consumer packaged goods and manufacturing companies. 

Ainara received an M.B.A. from MIT’s Sloan School of Management and an A.B. in Applied Mathematics from Harvard College. Ainara resides in Bellevue, Washington.

Jake Eldrenkamp is an Associate at Arable Capital Partners and joined the firm in 2023. Jake works on industry analysis, company due diligence, and financial valuation and reporting for the firm, and supports structuring of its current and prospective investments.

Prior to joining the firm, Jake was a Senior Analyst at Zachary Scott & Co, where he focused on middle market mergers and acquisitions in the agriculture, seafood, and industrial sectors. Jake spent the first five years of his career as an offensive lineman for the National Football League.

Jake received a B.A. in Finance from the University of Washington, where he also captained the Husky football team and was named Pac-12 Football Scholar Athlete of the Year. Jake resides in Bellevue, Washington with his wife and young daughter.  

Thomas Flies is a Vice President at Arable Capital Partners and joined the firm in 2019. Thomas concentrates on the firm’s efforts around sourcing investments, transaction analysis and execution, and monitoring of active portfolio companies.

Prior to joining the firm, Thomas held positions as an Investment Banking Associate for Robert W. Baird in the Global Industrial Group and at Cascadia Capital where he focused on executing capital raises and mergers & acquisitions for middle market clients in manufacturing, energy and clean technology. Thomas began his career in investment banking with Wedbush Securities, facilitating transactions and capital raises for Pacific Northwest community banks.

Thomas received a B.S. in Finance and a B.A. in Economics with honors from the University of Montana. He resides in his hometown of Seattle, Washington.

Sean Knightly is a Vice President at Arable Capital Partners and joined the firm in 2020. Sean concentrates on the firm’s efforts around sourcing investments, transaction analysis and execution, and monitoring of active portfolio companies.

Prior to joining the firm, Sean was a Finance Manager at Kraft Heinz, where he managed the P&L for its $1.4 billion beverages business. Before this, Sean was an Associate at RCP Advisors, a Chicago-based private equity firm, where he focused on investments in middle market companies.  Sean began his career in investment banking with Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Sean received an M.B.A. from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and a B.A in Economics with honors from the University of Chicago. He was raised in Chicago, Illinois and resides in Seattle, Washington.

Jodi Paulson is an Accounting Manager at Arable Capital Partners and joined the firm in 2017. Jodi manages internal accounting for the firm.

Jodi’s prior experience is also in accounting for private investment and real estate investment firms. 

Jodi resides in Bellevue, Washington with her husband. 

Matt Reus is a Director at Arable Capital Partners and joined the firm in 2019. Matt concentrates on the firm’s efforts around sourcing investments, transaction analysis and execution, and monitoring of active portfolio companies. He serves on the board of Royal Ridge and is a board observer for Blazer Wilkinson Gee.

Over the course of his career, Matt has executed more than $5 billion of mergers, acquisitions, debt, securitization, and equity capital raise transactions. Prior to joining the firm, Matt was a Vice President at Cascadia Capital, where he was a founding member of Cascadia Capital’s Food & Agribusiness team and led mergers & acquisitions, capital raising, and direct investment efforts. Before this, Matt was an investment and merchant banker at Western Reserve Partners (now known as Citizens Capital Markets).  He began his career in fixed income at Wachovia Securities.

Matt received an M.B.A. from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business and a B.A. in Philosophy and Economics from the University of Washington. He resides in Seattle, Washington with his wife and two young children.

Greg Richards is a Managing Director at Arable Capital Partners and founded the firm in 2016. As founder and a principal of the firm, Greg leads the firm’s efforts for fundraising, investments, and ongoing portfolio management. Greg serves on the boards of Blazer Wilkinson Gee, Laurel Ag & Water, organicgirl, Pacific Trellis Fruit, and Royal Ridge.

Greg is also a Managing Director at HarvestWest Investments, a fund that invests in farmland in the Pacific Northwest. Greg co-founded the fund and managed fundraising efforts and sourced and structured acquisitions of farmland properties and their respective ongoing leases.

Prior to founding HarvestWest, Greg was the CEO and owner of Rung Industries, a manufacturer of equipment used in sand & gravel pits and quarries. In 2010, Greg sold Rung Industries to a strategic buyer. He previously held positions in business development in the technology industry, in investment banking at Lehman Brothers, and as a CPA at Deloitte & Touche.

Greg received a B.A. from the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business. He lives in Bellevue, Washington with his wife and three children.

Tim Stejskal is an Operating Partner at Arable Capital Partners and joined the firm in 2023. Tim works with Arable’s portfolio companies on strategy and special projects and also sources, evaluates, and diligences prospective investments for Arable.   

An industry veteran, Tim has spent his career in food and agriculture and brings deep experience in leadership as well as sales and marketing. Most recently, Tim was CEO of Fresh Innovations, the leading sliced apple provider to K-12 schools in the Western U.S.

Tim was also General Manager and Senior Vice President of Sales and Innovation at Dole Fresh Vegetables where he spent 24 years. Prior to this, Tim was Director of Sales at Chatham Village Foods.

Tim received a B.A. in Business Administration from St. Mary’s College. He and his wife of 35 years split time between Nevada and California.

Laura Wachter is Chief of Staff and Chief Compliance Officer at Arable Capital Partners and joined the firm in 2022. Laura oversees the firm’s operations, including compliance, fund operations, human resources, investor relations, and technology.

Prior to joining the firm, Laura was with Amazon Web Services, where she held global management roles within sales operations.  Before this, Laura was a Director at Russell Investments, where she was responsible for all operations of the company’s institutional sales division.  She was also a First Vice President at Washington Mutual, where she managed the company’s strategic planning function and executed capital raises and acquisitions.  Laura began her career as an Equity Research Analyst at Lehman Brothers, covering the food sector. 

Laura received an M.B.A. from New York University’s Stern School of Business and a B.A. in English from the University of Washington. She resides in Seattle, Washington with her husband and two young children.

Derek Yurosek is a Managing Director at Arable Capital Partners and joined the firm in 2017. As a principal of the firm, Derek leads the firm’s efforts for investments and ongoing portfolio management. He serves on the boards of Blazer Wilkinson Gee, Laurel Ag & Water, organicgirl, Pacific Trellis Fruit, and Royal Ridge.

Prior to joining the firm, Derek was the Head of Agriculture Operations for BMGI, the private holding company for Bill and Melinda Gates. Here, Derek led the team responsible for acquisition and operational performance for a portfolio of agriculture assets, including 150,000+ acres of land, vertically integrated farming, and food processing businesses primarily located in the United States.

Derek comes from a long history of farming and agriculture in the central valley of California. Before joining BMGI, he spent 14 years at Bolthouse Farms in his hometown of Bakersfield, CA. When he left Bolthouse, he was the Vice President of Agriculture and Regional Operations responsible for $550 million in revenue and 750 employees.

Derek received an M.B.A. with a concentration in Agricultural Business from Colorado State University and a B.S. in Agricultural Business and Economics from Colorado State University. Derek resides in Bakersfield, California with his wife and children.