What McRock Capital does

McRock Capital is a Toronto-based venture capital firm founded in 2012 by Scott MacDonald and Whitney Rockley, purpose-built to invest at the intersection of sensors, software, and artificial intelligence in large industrial markets. It is recognized as the first dedicated Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) venture capital manager, and with Fund III it has narrowed its investment focus to industrial software exclusively. The firm invests growth and later-stage capital in early-to-growth-stage companies applying AI, machine learning, computer vision, autonomous systems, and IoT to manufacturing, energy, transportation, construction, and smart-city markets, with active deployment across Canada, the United States, Europe, and Israel.

McRock operates three primary fund vehicles (McRock iNFund LP/Fund I at ~$65M, Fund II at $112M, and Fund III at over $120M CAD), bringing total committed capital across funds to more than $300M. Beyond fund management, the firm produces the proprietary McRock Industrial Software Index (tracking 25 public companies with combined market cap exceeding $500B), hosts the annual McRock Industrial Software Symposium in Montreal, runs the McRock Industrial AI Awards, and publishes the Friday Musings thought-leadership blog. The product surface functions both as LP-marketing infrastructure and as a sourcing/positioning engine for the firm.

The firm's revenue model is standard institutional asset management: management fees on committed and invested capital across active funds, plus performance-based carried interest from realizations. Notable exits include Clearpath Robotics (acquired by Rockwell Automation), mnubo (acquired by AspenTech), Decisive Farming (acquired by Telus), ThoughtTrace (acquired by Thomson Reuters), Poka (acquired by IFS), and RuggedCom (acquired by Siemens). The team comprises approximately 10 members across two offices (Toronto headquarters and Calgary regional office), with deep operating experience in power, water, oil & gas, and industrial software sectors. McRock is privately held, owned and operated by its co-founders, and backed by a diversified LP mix of Canadian crown corporations, pension and fund-of-funds investors, and global strategic corporates (Cisco, Caterpillar, Shell, Mitsubishi, EDF, Autodesk, AspenTech).

Name

McRock Capital

Legal name

McRock Capital

Website

https://mcrockcapital.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

McRock Capital is a Toronto-based venture capital firm founded in 2012 that invests growth capital exclusively in industrial software and Industrial AI companies across Canada, the US, Europe, and Israel, managing over $300M CAD across three funds.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital / Private Equity

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (52394), Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), All Other Financial Investment Activities (52399)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Institutional Capital Introduction (LP/Family Office/Endowment Matching) (FSAEALAI)

Keywords

• Industrial venture capital
• Growth stage investing
• Industrial software investing
• Industrial AI investments
• Venture capital funds

Headquarters

HQ city

Toronto

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Management Fees: VC fund management fees typically charged as a percentage of committed capital under management
2. Carried Interest: Performance-based carried interest from successful portfolio company exits and realizations

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

McRock Capital is a Toronto-based venture capital firm that manages industrial technology investment funds (Fund I / McRock iNFund LP, Fund II, and Fund III) focused exclusively on industrial software and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). The firm provides growth and later-stage equity capital, board oversight, and sector expertise to early-to-growth-stage industrial software companies across Canada, the United States, Europe, and Israel. Limited partners include institutional and corporate investors such as Export Development Canada, BDC Capital, Cisco Investments, Caterpillar, Shell, Mitsubishi Corporation, Aspen Technology, EDF, and Teralys Capital.

Product overview

McRock Capital is a Toronto-based venture capital firm that operates multiple industrial technology investment funds (McRock iNFund LP/Fund I, Fund II, and Fund III) exclusively focused on industrial software and the Industrial Internet of Things. The firm also produces proprietary research products, including the McRock Industrial Software Index, a benchmark tracking 25 public companies in the industrial software space with over $500B combined market cap. Beyond fund management, McRock offers an annual Symposium event, the McRock Industrial AI Awards program, and the Friday Musings thought leadership blog series.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• McRock iNFund LP (Fund I) McRock's first venture capital fund, focused exclusively on the intersection of sensors and software in large industrial markets and smart cities (IIoT), with a $65M cap and limited partner investors including Cisco Investments, BDC Capital, Teralys Capital, Alberta Enterprise Corporation, Kensington Capital Partners, HarbourVest, and Électricité de France (EDF).
• McRock Fund II McRock's second Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) venture capital fund, ultimately closed at $112 million with commitments from Cisco Investments, Shell, Mitsubishi Corporation, Caterpillar Ventures, BDC Capital, Export Development Canada, Alberta Enterprise Corporation, Aspen Technology, Fonds de solidarité FTQ, Teralys Capital, Kensington, and HarbourVest, investing in the intersection of sensors and software in large industrial markets across North America and Europe.
• McRock Fund III McRock's third industrial technology venture capital fund, focused exclusively on industrial software investments, building a portfolio of about 10 companies primarily in Canada and the United States. Final close was over $120 million CAD. Limited partners include Export Development Canada, BDC Capital, Alberta Enterprise Corporation, Fonds de solidarité FTQ, Aspen Technology, Venture Ontario, Bell Ventures, CIBC Innovation Banking, Autodesk, and Caterpillar.

Quantifiable outcome

• 6 successful strategic exits including Clearpath Robotics (Rockwell), mnubo (AspenTech), Decisive Farming (Telus), ThoughtTrace (Thomson Reuters), Poka (IFS), RuggedCom (Siemens)
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Snowflake VenturesmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-invested with McRock in Landing AI portfolio company; partnership enables customers to leverage Landing AI capabilities natively on Snowflake via Snowpark Container Services and Snowflake Native Apps

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Obvious Ventures: Obvious Ventures is a venture firm investing in purpose-driven industrial, climate, and infrastructure software with comparable fund size to McRock. Both pursue mission-driven industrial-tech theses targeting the physical economy.
• Lux Capital: Lux Capital is a deep-tech venture firm investing in industrial, aerospace, and physical-world AI startups. It competes with McRock for industrial-AI deal flow and shares a focus on sensor-and-software convergence, though it operates at meaningfully larger fund sizes.
• Energy Impact Partners: Energy Impact Partners is a global VC platform investing in decarbonization, digital industry, and energy-transition software. It overlaps McRock's industrial-software thesis and shares the corporate-LP-co-investment model (Shell, EDF, Mitsubishi are also EIP LPs).
• Congruent Ventures: Congruent Ventures is an early-stage VC firm investing in industrial, energy, and climate-tech software. It pursues a similar vertical specialization to McRock with comparable fund size, making it a direct peer for industrial-AI deals and LP relationships.
• Pangaea Ventures: Pangaea Ventures is a Vancouver-based venture capital firm exclusively focused on advanced materials and industrial technology. Like McRock, it pursues deep-tech industrial investments with corporate strategic LPs and operates with a similar sub-$200M fund size.
• Vision Ridge Partners: Vision Ridge Partners invests in sustainable industrial and infrastructure technology, with a similar industrial-software orientation to McRock. Both firms target asset-heavy industries undergoing digital transformation.

Broad incumbents

• Breakthrough Energy Ventures: Bill Gates-backed Breakthrough Energy Ventures invests in industrial decarbonization and heavy-industry software, overlapping with McRock's industrial-AI thesis. It operates a much larger fund ($1B+) and is backed by corporate LPs including Shell, Mitsubishi, and EDF — direct competitors for capital and deals.
• Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) - Industrial Tech direct team: CDPQ is a major Canadian institutional investor with direct investment activity in industrial technology and venture/growth equity. It is a peer in Canadian industrial-tech capital deployment and overlaps with McRock at the LP and co-investment level.

Regional players

• Mistral Venture Partners: Mistral is a Canadian seed/early-stage VC focused on industrial and enterprise software with deep operating expertise. As a fellow Canadian industrial-tech specialist, it competes with McRock for talent, LPs, and industrial-software deal flow in the Canadian ecosystem.
• Cisco Investments: Cisco Investments is the corporate venture arm of Cisco and a long-time McRock LP and co-investor. While primarily a corporate strategic investor in IoT/enterprise, its overlap with McRock's portfolio themes and co-investment activity makes it a relevant peer reference point.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/McRockCapital
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mcrock-capital

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments33 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about McRock Capital