- McRock Capital has announced that it held an initial closing on its second venture capital fund called McRock Fund II LP
McRock Capital announced it has held an initial closing on its second venture capital fund called McRock Fund II LP — which is dedicated to investing in the global trend around the Industrial Internet of Things (IoT). This new fund has reached over 80% of its targeted $100 million. The investors include Cisco Investments, Shell, and other significant corporate and institutional investors such as BDC Capital, Export Development Canada, Alberta Enterprise Corporation (AEC), and HarbourVest.
“We are at the beginning of the digital transformation in every industrial sector and urban environment around the globe,” said McRock Capital co-founder and managing partner Scott MacDonald. “McRock Fund II provides us with significant investment capital and strategic corporate relationships to help build the next generation of high-growth tech companies.”
This new fund will invest in high-growth 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.
“Our leadership position continues to be advanced by the caliber of the corporations and institutional investors we have attracted to McRock and Canada,” added McRock Capital co-founder and managing partner Whitney Rockley. “We also credit our diversity & inclusion initiatives within our own venture capital firm, and the portfolio of companies we finance, for our strong financial performance.”
Shell Global Commercial chief digital officer Saskia Mureau pointed out that the energy and petrochemical giant is seeking out new business models and technologies that have strong disruptive qualities and that can improve the experience of industrial customers in partnership with McRock Capital.
“In addition to offering a dedicated IoT and digital transformation solutions portfolio, 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,” commented Amit Chaturvedy, the Head of IoT and Enterprise Networking at Cisco Investments.
Alison Nankivell, the VP of Funds and Global Scaling at BDC Capital, noted that McRock Fund II is building off the success of the inaugural fund, which “is highly differentiated and supports an emerging cluster of technology strength in Canada.”
“Industrial IoT companies command a global stage, which makes our partnership with McRock a great opportunity to help Canadian exporters succeed internationally,” stated Dan Mancuso, the SVP Financing & Investments at EDC. “McRock is also a leader and champion for diversity and inclusion, which aligns well with the objectives of EDC’s Women-in-Trade Program.“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. “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.”
HarbourVest Partners managing director Senia Rapisarda, LL.M, CIM acknowledged that the “Industrial IoT sector has great potential for growth as machine learning and AI enter the next phase of implementation.” And she said that the Fourth Industrial Revolution is already underway as organizations of all sizes are looking to improve connectivity and efficiency.
