Cameron Porter / Steel Atlas

Cameron Porter and Talal Atteih are Co-Founders and GPs of Steel Atlas, a fund investing in the overlooked frontier between software and heavy industry.

While most VCs avoid industrial tech because it’s too complex, too physical, and too far from the cloud, Cameron and Talal are doubling down. They’re backing companies at the earliest stages where hard problems and real-world systems collide.

Steel Atlas’s model is disciplined and concentrated. Rare for an emerging manager, but they knew the game they were good at and stuck to it. Fund I is a $10M vehicle backing just eight companies. Fund II follows the same strategy with 12 companies. Each is handpicked based on deep research, conviction, and understanding of how systems-level changes occur in complex industries.

Our conversation gets into their approach: “You can’t just shoot from the hip with this style of investing. That’s why we invest at one per quarter.”

Take Valar Atomics, one of their early bets. It’s building nuclear reactors that make clean hydrocarbon fuels cheaply. Most VCs steer clear of nuclear. In just 10 months, Valar built a full thermal version of their reactor. Or GenLogs, which Steel Atlas led the seed round for. GenLogs is revolutionizing freight and logistics with a platform built on truck sensor data. 700 million truck detections, 1.6 billion attributes processed.

What sets Steel Atlas apart is the partnership. Talal brings industrial knowledge and global access. He grew up in a multigenerational steel family, later led venture efforts at a multi-billion-dollar advisory platform, and worked alongside a16z, Founders Fund, and Union Square Ventures.

Cameron brings an operator’s mindset and technical fluency. Princeton CS grad turned startup builder. He honed his expertise at AlleyCorp across early-stage companies. His time as a professional soccer player shaped his resilience and competitive spirit.

For founders, Steel Atlas isn’t just capital. They’re strategic co-builders with deep credibility in the industries they invest in. Industrial tech may be a long game, but Steel Atlas is playing it with unwavering conviction.

Full episode below, or on Spotify / Apple Podcasts