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Masha Bucherknows what she like and goes for it . After all , venture capitalism is about claim bold risk — and at the earliest stages .
That strategy has pay off for the beginner and general collaborator ofDay One Venturesover the past six years . The former - phase venture capital business firm take a alone take on the manufacture by spearheading public relations for its portfolio companionship .
Through Fund I ( $ 20 million ) and Fund II ( $ 50 million ) , the Silicon Valley house ’s portfolio has had 22 exits , include an IPO with Terran Orbital . It also has punt eight unicorns , includingSuperhuman , Remote , Worldcoin , Truebill ( whichexited to Rocket Companiesin 2021 ) andDuckDuckGo .
Five years ago , Day One Ventures had $ 11 million under direction , and Bucher and her team grew that to just over $ 450 million , she told TechCrunch . She ’s also surrounded herself with subject - matter experts , include ClassPass co - father Sanjiv Sanghavi , whojoined the firmin 2022 to empower in climate tech .
On Tuesday , the firm announced its Fund III of $ 150 million to back other - stage founders “ solving humanity ’s most pressing issues , from profound wealth disparity to the urgent threat of climate modification and the growing sensation of social closing off . ”
She also said the new store “ marks a new chapter , encompassing a deeper integrating of art and culture alongside our set up expertness in storytelling and public relations . ”
From Russia with PR prowess
Venture capital is not the only surface area where Bucher took risk of infection . She grew up in Russia ( going by Masha Drokova).The Washington Postdid a rather prolonged piece in 2022 about Bucher ’s teenage ties to Russia , which let in being a teen leader of Russian President Vladimir Putin ’s young person organization , Nashi . There is also a 2012 documentary made about that called “ Putin ’s Kiss . ”
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speak about that , Bucher said she was unseasoned , and it was n’t something she felt she was able to choose for herself , whether or not to be a part of the organisation . She also called the WaPo article “ inaccurate ” — it had report Bucher receive wealthy Russians and accept capital from them . She told TechCrunch she was never associated with them nor occupy money from them .
“ I can not go back to Russia because I ’m an foe of the country , ” Bucher say . “ I ca n’t see my grandparent . That ’s not home for me at all . I also deep disagree with what they do , as well as deeply distressing for the damage they ’ve done to my relatives in Ukraine from my mother ’s side . ”
Meanwhile , she part her first company at 18 years older , a societal media delegacy , that grew to 80 hoi polloi in six month . She then made the progression to public relations as an area that cater an outlet for her to get a line more about how businesses function .
In 2010 , she metRuna Capitalco - father Serg Bell on Twitter . “ When we connected , he was already the founder of three unicorns , which was quite surprising , ” Bucher tell TechCrunch . “ He tell apart me about startups and about his quantum engineering science projects in Singapore and in London . As he was outlining to me what he ’s form on , I gain that it ’s much more catering to the world than doing societal media marketing . ”
Bucher liked what she heard and joined Bell at Runa Capital in 2011 . She service as Porto Rico music director for the company until 2013 , when she joined data trade protection startup Acronis as vice president of communications .
Bucher came to the U.S. around 2014 and opened M&A PR Studio . She work with guest , including Houzz , HotelTonight and PandaDoc . She was meeting a lot of founders and working with about 100 ship’s company . And they were expect her for guidance on more and more issues out of doors of public relations .
“ It was clear that I was helpful in more way than PR , and they would say me that it was helpful to have someone to lecture to about scheme or job development , ” Bucher said . “ I did n’t require to restrict myself just because we had a declaration , because it was interesting for me .
In 2017 , she adjudicate to flip the hand a flake and become an saint investor where she could take hazard and do public relations for free . She invested in companies , including Lithic , Chatfuel , Acquired.io and Truebill .
A year later , Bucher exited M&A PR Studio and set out Day One Ventures .
Making bets on AI
Over the past six years , the firm has focused on area like AI , fintech , mood , future of work and web3 — some of which are area that have fall out of VC favor in favor of all - things AI .
She told my colleague Anna Heim in 2023 that , on average , two AI startups out of 1,000will survive if they do n’t have both the knowledge and business acumen to tackle this diligence .
If action well , though , Bucher believe AI will help us serve more efficiently as a bon ton .
“ There are Brobdingnagian economic inequality , like climate change and healthcare problems , and I cerebrate AI will help work out it , ” Bucher said . “ AI will come in and unlock an copiousness of resources that bring us manhood . Over time , it will avail hoi polloi be happy . When we invested in Superhuman , my judgment was blown at how they can write emails for me in my expressive style and edit with a short command , like ‘ hey , it ’s too long . ’ ”
It’s a new dawn, it’s a new Day One
Now with Fund III , Day One Ventures is add a direction on what Bucher called “ Future of Human , ” which Bucher said is a category that sit down at the “ intersection in history , technological advancements unlock unprecedented possibilities for human advancement . ”
future tense of Human will also have the firm look at a mysterious integration of art and culture , she said .
A few of Day One ’s recent investments include Rainmaker , a cloud - seeding startup that will force cloud to organize over and rain on drouth - stricken area ; Astroforce , which is mining asteroids in space ; Affiniti , propose industry - specific recognition cards to small businesses ; and blockchain web Layer N.
In addition , the firm invested in Cradle Healthcare , which is developing technology to cryogenically stop dead bodies . Yes , the latter technology is already usable , however , what Cradle is working on is faster immobilize engineering science and also a way to reverse it , Bucher said .
“ provenience ’s goal is to maintain your personality and memory for the future , ” she said . “ Freezing your brainpower in the yesteryear was so slow that part of your brain turn over into water , so it ’s all damage . Cradle can freeze it so fast that it does n’t turn into weewee , so you could preserve it . ”
