The history of High Eye
Unmanned aviation since 1998
High Eye started approximately 30 years ago as a model helicopter company. The helicopters were designed and built by the owner, who offered filming services like movies and commercials. In July 2013, Joost de Ruiter joined the company as CEO and majority shareholder. With several years of experience as an entrepreneur in a various range of companies and his enthusiasm for advanced technical products, he laid the foundation for High Eye as a professional unmanned aviation company.
Later that year, High Eye decided to change its strategy and therefore ceased the model helicopter services. The company’s focus switched to designing and building a robust unmanned helicopter, ready to be used for civil and military purposes. New employees with various backgrounds joined the company, to ensure a wide range of knowledge from aviation regulations to aerospace and automotive engineering. The team worked on the development of the new Airboxer model for 5 years, until it was released on the UAV market in 2018.
Joost de Ruiter
CEO
Joost is the CEO and shareholder of High Eye since 2013. He studied business economics (MBA) at the University of Groningen, before completing military service as a Royal Navy officer. In 1991 he joined the family business Weststellingwerf, where his career as an entrepreneur started. High Eye is the first company where Joost is not only an entrepreneur, but also really involved in the daily business of the company.
Jeroen van Beek
CFO
Jeroen studied business economics at the University of Tilburg. He has been working with Joost on restructuring businesses since 2008. Jeroen has a passion for improving and harmonizing the processes within a company, to reach the best possible results. His main focus within High Eye lies in online marketing, pricing, inventory, legal matters and financial controlling.
