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St. Paul-based JLT Group Inc., the real-estate and investment company backed by Jerry Trooien, has taken over as the majority owner of a North Carolina-based wireless-technology firm with a $10 million recapitalization deal.
JLT Group and Trooien had previously invested about $6.5 million in HiddenMind Inc. of Cary, which is located in North Carolina's Research Triangle Park area. The new round of funding, made after HiddenMind's institutional investors decided to bail out, effectively restarts the tech firm as a new company, with JLT as the dominant shareholder.
Founded in 1999, HiddenMind integrates standard business software applications into wireless devices, letting a user access company databases and the like on a handheld computer. Customers include General Electric and St. Jude Medical Inc.
The company was founded by networking consultant Kristopher Tyra and his brother, Kenneth, formerly an attorney with Minneapolis-based Dorsey & Whitney. At the law firm, Kenneth Tyra had advised Trooien on several real estate deals. When Trooien heard about the startup, he decided to invest in an early round.
HiddenMind later raised...