Canadian investment company McRock Capital has held an initial closing on its second venture capital fund, McRock Fund II LP, dedicated to investing in the Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) space.
The new fund has reached over 80% of its targeted CAD100 million ($75.9 million). Investors include Cisco Investments, Shell and other significant corporate and institutional investors including BDC Capital, Export Development Canada, Alberta Enterprise Corporation (AEC), and HarbourVest.
McRock said that the new fund will invest in companies across Canada, the US, and Europe that are combining next generation data analytics through artificial intelligence (AI) with the growing data from field devices, machines and equipment in industrial and urban environments.
“We are at the beginning of the digital transformation in every industrial sector and urban environment around the globe,” said Scott MacDonald, Co-founder and Managing Partner of McRock Capital. “McRock Fund II provides us with significant investment capital and strategic corporate relationships to help build the next generation of high-growth tech companies.”
“Digitalisation is transforming Shell and we are looking at a range of options to drive future growth in our marketing businesses,” said Saskia Mureau, Chief Digital Officer, Shell Global Commercial. “In partnership with McRock Capital, we are seeking out new business models and technologies that have strong disruptive qualities and that can improve the experience of industrial customers.”
Amit Chaturvedy, Head of IoT and Enterprise Networking at Cisco Investments said that Cisco actively deploys capital and collaborates with organizations to drive IoT innovation globally. “We have been working closely with McRock since 2014 and are thrilled to continue this strategic relationship,” the executive said.
“The McRock team has significant Industrial IoT expertise and a track record of building successful high-growth companies, specifically in Canada,” said Kristina Williams, CEO of Alberta Enterprise Corporation (AEC). “We see this as a strategic investment for AEC that will facilitate the growth of successful Industrial IoT companies in the province of Alberta, both to strengthen our foundational industries of agriculture, oil and gas, and also taking advantage of Alberta’s strength in machine learning and artificial intelligence.”
McRock is an investment firm co-founded by venture capital veterans Scott MacDonald and Whitney Rockley and invests exclusively in Industrial IoT companies across Canada, the US, and Europe.
