2025 Dealmakers of the Year Honorees

Presented By: Datasite

Kristen Denzer 
Founder, President & CEO           
Tierra Encantada

Childcare franchisor with corporate and franchise locations in five states. Tierra Encantada’s award-winning childcare program blends Spanish immersion with play-based learning, nurturing confidence, curiosity, and bilingualism. With a globally inspired culinary program and a focus on holistic development, children thrive in a warm, enriching environment designed to prepare them for kindergarten and beyond. The company received $38 million of development capital from Susquehanna Growth Equity on July 1, 2024.

 

Joe Johnson      
CEO       
Shamrock Group

Joe Johnson is Chief Executive Officer of Shamrock Group and KBI Commercial Services, where he leads strategy, operations, and growth across beverage, ice, chemical, gas, and service businesses. He has overseen Shamrock’s national expansion and led the acquisition of KBI from Pentair. He is now driving the integration of KBI into Shamrock Group, a transformational initiative that is expanding the company’s footprint and strengthening its service capabilities nationwide.

Previously, Joe served as Shamrock’s Chief Financial Officer and minority owner before partnering with Duco Capital to acquire the company. Earlier in his career, he developed expertise in investment banking, corporate strategy, and mergers and acquisitions through roles at William Blair, Canadian National Railway, Aqua Capital Management, and Merrill Lynch. These experiences equipped him with deep capability in complex transactions, large-scale investments, and strategic leadership, which he now applies to advancing Shamrock’s growth and long-term vision.

 

 

 

Tyler Lorenzen 
President & CEO              

Zach Hubert      
Corporate Development Manager           
PURIS Proteins

Puris Proteins, founded in 1985 and headquartered in Minneapolis, is a producer of non-GMO sustainable food ingredients, specializing in the supply of organic pea protein products internationally. The company has 200 employees. Puris completed a $100M debt refinancing round on May 27, 2025. 

 

Dan Mallin        
Co-Founder & CEO          

Scott Litman      
Co-Founder       
Lucy

Lucy, founded in 2015 and headquartered in Minneapolis, develops a knowledge management platform that uses AI to help enterprise teams derive business insights from various data formats, including documents, audio, and video. Customers include PepsiCo, Kraft-Heinz, American Express, and Procter & Gamble. Lucy was acquired by Capacity on July 23rd, 2024, for an undisclosed amount. The combined company has 450 employees. Prior to its acquisition, Lucy raised $6M in a Series A round led by Dallas Venture Capital on January 18, 2022, with a post-valuation of $19M.

 

Nii Quaye           
Managing Director          
Vermilion Group

Private equity firm Vermilion Group, led by Nii Quaye, has had numerous investments over the last 48 months, including LBOs of Gladwin Machinery Solutions, Five Star Plastics, Millennium, Dakotaland Manufacturing, and Intek Plastics. Nii and his team continue to invest and improve the business landscape in Minneapolis.

 

Caleb Schmidt  
Managing Partner           
Duco Capital

Caleb Schmidt and his partners at Duco transformed a proprietary, founder-owned deal into a platform investment with immediate scale. After acquiring Shamrock Group, Duco executed a carve-out of KBI Beverage Service from Pentair, expanding Shamrock into the largest beverage service provider in the U.S. The transactions showcase Minneapolis-based Duco as a nimble, first-time fundless sponsor achieving complex execution. They highlight the strength of local PE talent in sourcing, structuring, and closing deals that bring national industry leadership back under Twin Cities ownership.

 

Steve Snyder    
CEO       
Nutracom

Steve Snyder is being recognized for outstanding contributions in partnership with Marrin Investment Partners on the acquisition of Nutracom, a sports nutrition and supplements co-innovation and contract manufacturing company based in St. Louis.   Steve acting as CEO, alongside the Marrin team headquartered in Minnesota, acted as co-general partners in the deal,  leading the money raise, creating and implementing a renewed strategic direction resulting in the ongoing financial turnaround has played a critical role in leading the impressive turnaround of this formerly distressed business.

With strategic insight, operational discipline, and unwavering commitment, Steve has taken a hands-on approach to revitalizing Nutracom’s innovation capabilities and manufacturing operations, positioning it for long-term growth and stability. His work exemplifies what it means to steward a company through transformation: creating both financial, strategic and team cultural value.

 

Social Impact Investing Award

Alicia Phillips
President & CEO
New Impact Fund

The New Impact Fund Partners with forward-thinking philanthropic investors to provide flexible, low-cost, and creative financial capital. This creates tangible, sustainable impacts on Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) wealth creation, employment, and commerce in Twin Cities communities. It’s high-net-worth donors, many of them entrepreneurs themselves, build relationships to connect their social capital on scale. Financial and social capital together makes all the difference.