Toronto-based McRock Capital has initially closed its Industrial Internet venture capital fund, known as McRock iNFund LP, with $50 million. The round was led by BDC Venture Capital and was also participated in by institutional investors and family offices in Canada and the US. The closing of the fund comes just weeks after McRock said it had formed a strategic alignment with GE to help further the position of Canada in Industrial Internet, a statement from the company said.

Founded by venture capital veterans Scott MacDonald and Whitney Rockley, McRock Capital focuses its investments exclusively in Canadian and US Industrial Internet firms. BDC Venture Capital has over $1 billion under management and looks for opportunities in firms in the IT, health and energy sectors as well as in venture funds, that exhibit the potential for high growth.

In a statement, McRock said Industrial Internet is where sensors and software and large industrial markets intersect. McRock iNFund will look for firms with high growth that are specifically dedicated to large industrial markets and seeking to make their operations more efficient by making their machines, equipment and devices run more intelligently, the statement said.

McRock Capital Co-Founder and Managing Partner Scott MacDonald said, "We are thrilled to announce the first close of our fund and are grateful for the confidence our investors have shown in us. We have entered an era of profound transformation with the Industrial Internet. McRock is well positioned to unlock tremendous value in these billion dollar markets."

BDC Venture Capital VP of Strategic Investments and Initiatives Dominique Bélanger said that the investment strategy of McRock iNFund is highly focused and differentiated so that it has garnered the interest of investors in the US and Canada. He added, "Moreover, it is well aligned with our own objective of supporting Canadian ventures that have the potential both to commercialize scalable industrial technologies and to generate significant returns."