Praemo Rolled into Model Simulating Software Innovator

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. We think in the Digital Industrial world it may actually be a business combination. The folks at Stream Systems surely saw something they admired in Praemo; so much so they decided to grab the technology and people. How flattering, indeed!

Stream is revolutionizing modeling simulation software for industry to help companies see and resolve network optimization challenges quickly and easily. The combination gives them access to Praemo’s AI/Machine Learning team which immediately strengthens the internal data science capabilities Stream offers. Praemo’s product—Razor™—is highly complementary to Stream’s SimOpti and harnesses the power of machine learning to streamline production processes and optimize industrial operations.

The addition of Praemo will also help Stream Systems accelerate their product road map and support the transition from a Professional Services company to a Software as a Service company. Stream Systems has released their first MVP for the mining industry and will be releasing their first commercial product in the fall of 2023.

Great news for Praemo, and great news for us at McRock! The transaction also means Stream Systems joins our strong portfolio of Digital Industrial leaders. We’re excited to watch what they do next with this powerful tool to optimize industrial assets. Welcome to the family, Stream!

Mitsubishi and Miovision are first-ever recipients of the McRock Climate Action Awards for excellence in addressing climate change among Digital Industrial technology leaders

These guys are too busy doing their thing—improving the state of the world for the rest of us—to be tooting their own horns. So we’re doing it for them. Cue the balloon drop and pop the champagne!

We established the McRock Climate Action Awards to draw attention to how digital transformation is driving the industrial carbon transition and to spotlight the DI innovators who are making real progress in our collective efforts to find solutions for global climate change. We’re thrilled to be announcing the winners at our 10^th Digital Industrial Symposium. Bring on the accolades!

Mitsubishi Corporation is being awarded Climate Action Corporate Leader of the Year because of their effective approaches, substantial investments and outcomes in promoting environmental friendliness and advancing sustainable development. Mitsubishi’s commitment to climate action is a key element of the senior leadership’s business strategy and includes several aggressive targets for building a carbon neutral community—both in its own operations and in creating a steady energy supply. They have formalized Digital and Energy Transformation strategies, which includes for example, transitioning to renewable energy sources with the help of digital technology and artificial intelligence in power generation forecasting. And they’ve also used this technology to develop a food distribution platform to minimize food waste and, by extension, reduce CO2 emissions. How cool is that?

Climate Action Tech Company of the Year is awarded to Miovision for their tangible achievements in delivering digital solutions that drive climate impacts. These traffic technology innovators are reducing road congestion and vehicle emissions all while improving public safety through scalable intelligent transportation solutions. The management team of the privately owned organization shares a common vision for using technology and big data to address the challenges of climate change. Their most recent acquisition—Global Traffic Technologies—is enabling Miovision to build in traffic signal prioritization sensors to further reduce transit and emergency responder delays. Optimizing signal timing is a simple but highly effective strategy for reducing GHG emissions that is helping urban planners around the world yield tangible results in reaching their climate targets.

OK, yes, we’re admittedly biased when it comes to Miovision, but you should know the recipients of these awards were selected by a panel of independent judges. Huge thanks to these incredible industry leaders for joining our judging panel to identify and celebrate the innovators who are making a difference:

• Michelle de Cordova, Principal, ESG Global Advisors
• Alison Nankivell, Senior Vice President, Funds and Global Scaling, BDC Capital
• Rachel Guthrie, VP, Corporate Sustainability Group, EDC

Keep your eyes open for the companies that will be contending for these awards in 2024. They’re already out there, doing their thing, to make the world a better place for all of us.

They’ve got the “touch”—investment will help fuel productization for leader in smart surface technology

Anyone else experiencing déjà vu? It’s not your imagination. This is the second week in a row where we’re announcing a big deal with financing powerhouse Export Development Canada (EDC). (You may recall last week we announced a whopping $260 million deal for Miovision—if you missed it, check out the news here. This is a partnership we’re especially proud of.

This time we’re co-leading the effort with EDC and collaborating with existing investor in e2ip Investissement Québec, new investor Fonds de Continuité DNA and National Bank of Canada (BNC). Founding investors W and Namakor remain. McRock co-founder Scott MacDonald has become Chair of the Board of Directors as part of the financing.

The $120 million investment will be used to productize decades of HMI and IIoT technology leadership from its high-performance engineered solutions business, and to grow global revenue through the digital deployment of its productized and ready-to-use printed electronics, embedded systems, touchscreen and In-Mold-Electronics (IME) platforms.

We want the world to pay attention to what e2ip is doing. Because it’s super cool. Its roots can be traced back more than 100 years to the development of pressure-sensitive products in Canada. Told you it was cool! Today, in a world where technology is king, the next generation of innovators are successfully embracing the human connection. e2ip is part of that movement and we’re here to back them, along with the other innovators in the McRock portfolio.

Substantial deal signals accelerating demand for AI-powered transportation solutions

You read it right–no need to get your vision checked. $260M in growth funding for Miovision in a round co-led by Export Development Canada (EDC), Maverix Private Equity and TELUS Ventures. Plus the acquisition of Global Traffic Technologies to add new applications to the portfolio for even safer and cleaner transportation networks.

Deals like this aren’t happening every day. When they do, it’s a signal to the market that the innovations behind Miovision’s growing enterprise are making a positive impact on modern life. McRock co-founder Whitney Rockley will continue to sit on the Miovision board to support the organization’s vision for delivering data-driven solutions for urban planners

GTT’s Opticom product line is a market-leading emergency pre-emption and traffic signal priority solution that will integrate seamlessly with Miovision’s platform to accelerate development and continual improvement of priority control solutions for transit and emergency responders. How? The AI software that drives Opticom can reduce emergency response times by up to 25 percent and emergency vehicle crashes at the intersection by up to 70 percent all while improving the on-time efficiency of public transit. Wow.

This acquisition–$107 million to previous owner Vontier Corporation–follows other recent acquisitions including Traffop, Rapid Flow and MicroTraffic, and further fuels Miovision’s momentum in the marketplace. Each new application helps them deliver via their network of devices at the roadside and intersection, reducing the upfront cost of deploying data-driven solutions that can help cities make their transportation networks safer and cleaner while supporting broader urban planning objectives.

Looks like nothing but green lights ahead for these folks. We can’t wait to see where they go next.

Series D financing and an acquisition are setting this partnership up for new levels of success

There are exciting deals, and then there are EXCITING deals. This one falls into the latter category. Worldsensing is one of the shining stars in McRock’s portfolio. We have supported their financing rounds over the years because they truly have an innovative and effective solution to help tackle the challenges of climate change in a real and compelling way.

This latest round of financing is led by Bentley Systems–an infrastructure software engineering firm that provides innovative and industry-leading software solutions to professionals, and organizations of every size, for the design, construction, and operations of roads and bridges, rail and transit, water and wastewater, public works and utilities, buildings and campuses, mining, and industrial facilities. The deal also includes acquisition of Bentley’s Thread connectivity device business by Worldsensing which will substantially increase the size of the operation.

The new partnership between Worldsensing and Bentley Systems features a critical go-to-market strategy to monitor critical infrastructure to save lives and protect the environment. The investment will help Worldsensing expand and complement the company’s product portfolio, offering new options to its customers where adaptive sensor integrations or active sensor management are a key requirement.

Partnerships like this truly have the potential to change the world. We couldn’t have envisioned a better marriage ourselves.