The Builders
Behind Industrious

Mason Angel is a career venture capitalist and the Founding Partner of Industrious Ventures, where he invests in companies advancing commercial space, autonomous systems, and technologies that strengthen America’s national security and industrial base. His work centers on identifying and supporting the builders reshaping the frontier of defense, space, and critical infrastructure.

Mason’s passion for aerospace extends beyond investing. In May 2024, he launched onboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard Mission #25, becoming the 546th individual to cross the Kármán line alongside Air Force veteran Ed Dwight. He is also active philanthropically, serving as a Director of TAFF, a nonprofit supporting early-stage STEM education in partnership with programs such as Khan Academy and Tulane University.

Mason currently serves as a Board Observer for Stoke Space Technologies and Xona Space Systems.

He is based in Denver, Colorado.

Taylor Sargent is a Partner at Industrious Ventures where he focuses on aerospace, national security, advanced materials, supply chain, and energy resilience. He has nearly a decade of experience investing in frontier technologies across both public and private sectors.

He started his career as a Lead Scientist at Booz Allen where he worked on satellite communications and ground station modernization efforts at NASA Goddard and provided science, engineering, and technical advisory to DARPA. At DARPA, Taylor helped deploy and manage about $130M of investment in aerospace, quantum sensing, materials science, and other blue-sky technology areas.

Taylor holds a B.S. in Physics from the Honors College at George Mason University and an MBA from UCLA. Taylor currently serves as a Board Observer for Lunar Outpost and Solestial.

He is based in Denver, Colorado.

Alex Johnson is the Head of External Affairs at Industrious Ventures, where she leads the firm’s communications, marketing, portfolio support, and external engagement. She works closely with portfolio companies to shape their narratives, elevate visibility, and support major commercial, government, and capital-raising milestones.

She started her career at the Commercial Spaceflight Federation—the leading trade association for the U.S. commercial space industry—supporting communications and government-affairs initiatives on behalf of more than 90 member companies.

Before joining Industrious, Alex led communications and marketing for deep-tech and defense companies including CesiumAstro and Radian Aerospace, partnering with founders and technical leaders to build brand strategy, product positioning, and go-to-market communications. Her work has included multi-platform rebrands, investor and stakeholder engagement programs, and support for major demonstrations, announcements, and fundraising events.

She is based in Austin, Texas.

Henri Rizack is the Head of Capital Markets at Industrious Ventures, where he focuses on energy resilience, next-generation infrastructure technologies, portfolio capital advisory support, and investor relations. He brings 8-years of experience across energy project finance, commodities trading, and infrastructure development; and has been actively investing in venture capital since 2021.

He began his career as a Global Commodities Analyst at Citigroup rotating through the energy trading teams (crude oil & products, natural gas, and power) and structured products origination team working with clients needing bespoke financial derivatives and asset-based direct lending. He later joined DTE Energy Trading as a Structured Originator, executing OTC transactions in the power + environmental commodities market. He subsequently moved to Onyx Renewable Partners, a Blackstone portfolio company, where he worked on Business and Project Development of renewable energy assets. Prior to Industrious, he led underwriting and due diligence efforts on $1.3B+ of tax equity investments as a Senior Associate at Monarch Private Capital on their renewable energy acquisitions team.

He splits his time between Florida, NYC, and Denver. 

Steve Angel serves as an Advisor to Industrious Ventures, bringing more than four decades of leadership across industrials, advanced manufacturing, and global operations. He has extensive experience scaling complex engineering organizations, navigating cross-border integrations, and guiding companies through major strategic transformations.

Steve is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer of CSX, one of the nation’s leading transportation suppliers. He previously served as Chief Executive Officer and later Chairman of Linde plc, where he led the integration of Linde AG and Praxair to create the world’s largest industrial gases and engineering company. Prior to the merger, he spent more than a decade as Chairman, President, and CEO of Praxair.

Earlier in his career, Steve spent 22 years at General Electric in a series of management roles spanning locomotive and rail operations—an early foundation that shaped his deep focus on performance, safety, and disciplined execution.

He currently serves as Non-Executive Chairman of GE Vernova. He has also held board roles with PPG Industries, Stoke Space, GE Aerospace, the Hydrogen Council, and the US-China Business Council, and served as co-chair of the US-Brazil CEO Forum.

Dr. Michael “Orbit” Nayak serves as an Advisor to Industrious Ventures and is currently the Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice President of the Deep Tech + Exploration Domain at the XPRIZE Foundation.

Prior to joining XPRIZE, Michael was a Program Manager at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), where he ideated, created and directed a $700M+portfolio of nearly two dozen programs at all Technology Readiness Levels. At DARPA, he founded the Department of Defense’s first- and second-ever lunar research programs, ran the Agency’s first Very Low Earth Orbit satellite program, and scaled a program to $6.6B in follow-on funding.

Michael has worked for seven years across three NASA centers, including on the space shuttle; flight director for multiple experimental spacecraft; instructor flight test engineer and instructor pilot; led a scientific field expedition to the South Pole as a US Antarctic Program Principal Investigator, and has overseen all research activity at the Department of Defense’s largest telescope facility. He has won numerous awards for his technology leadership, including the Rotary National Award for Space Achievement and the American Astronautical Society’s Industrial Leadership Award. He is a graduate of the prestigious US Air Force Test Pilot School, two-time NASA Astronaut semifinalist, two-time published science-fiction novelist, and has 1,500+ hours of flight time in 40+ aircraft including the F-16, T-38 and EA500.

Michael holds an undergraduate degree in Aerospace Engineering, Masters’ degrees in Earth Science, Aerospace Engineering and Flight Test Engineering, and a PhD in Earth and Planetary Science from the University of California at Santa Cruz. He was a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellow for his doctoral work.