Day One Ventures Leader Masha Bucher Secures $150 Million Investment
Day One Ventures founder and general partner Masha Bucher has once again demonstrated her adeptness in the venture capital world by raising a significant $150 million for the firm's third fund. Over the past six years, Bucher’s strategy of combining venture capitalism with public relations has set Day One Ventures apart, yielding impressive results.

Day One Ventures founder and general partner Masha Bucher has once again demonstrated her adeptness in the venture capital world by raising a significant $150 million for the firm's third fund. Over the past six years, Bucher’s strategy of combining venture capitalism with public relations has set Day One Ventures apart, yielding impressive results.
With the initial Fund I amounting to $20 million and the subsequent Fund II totaling $50 million, the firm has successfully overseen 22 exits, including an IPO with Terran Orbital. Additionally, the portfolio boasts eight unicorns such as Superhuman, Remote, Worldcoin, Truebill, which exited to Rocket Companies in 2021, and DuckDuckGo. As of five years ago, Day One Ventures managed just $11 million, but under Bucher's leadership, this figure has surged to over $450 million.
Bucher attributes this growth to surrounding herself with industry experts. Notably, ClassPass co-founder Sanjiv Sanghavi joined the firm in 2022 to lead investments in climate technology. The new $150 million Fund III is aimed at supporting early-stage founders who are addressing pressing global issues, ranging from wealth disparities to climate change and social isolation. Bucher emphasized that the new fund represents "a deeper integration of art and culture alongside our established expertise in storytelling and PR."
Masha Bucher's journey into venture capital is as compelling as her professional achievements. Born in Russia and originally known as Masha Drokova, Bucher was a prominent youth leader in Vladimir Putin's organization, Nashi. However, she later distanced herself from this past. In an interview with The Washington Post, Bucher expressed her inability to return to Russia, stating, "I cannot go back to Russia because I’m an enemy of the country." She further revealed that she disagrees with the actions of the Russian government, especially regarding the conflict in Ukraine.
At the age of 18, Bucher founded her first company, a social media agency, which rapidly expanded to 80 employees within six months. Her transition into public relations allowed her to gain deeper insights into business operations. In 2010, she connected with Runa Capital co-founder Serg Bell via Twitter, and by 2011, she was serving as PR director for the company. Later, she became vice president of communications at the data protection startup Acronis.
Bucher moved to the United States around 2014 and launched M&A PR Studio, working with clients such as Houzz, Hoteltonight, and PandaDoc. Through her interactions with numerous founders, she began offering strategic advice beyond public relations. By 2017, she transitioned to angel investing, backing companies like Lithic, Chatfuel, Acquired.io, and Truebill.
Over the past six years, Day One Ventures has focused on areas like AI, fintech, climate tech, the future of work, and web3. Despite some of these areas falling out of favor in the venture capital world, Bucher believes that AI holds significant potential for societal improvement. She remarked, "There are huge economic inequalities, like climate change and health care problems, and I think AI will help solve it."
With Fund III, Day One Ventures is introducing a new focus area called "Future of Human," which aims to explore the intersection of technology, art, and culture. Recent investments include Rainmaker, a cloud seeding startup designed to induce rainfall in drought-affected areas, and Cradle Healthcare, which is developing advanced cryogenic freezing technology. Bucher explained that Cradle's technology can "freeze the brain so fast that it doesn’t turn into water, preserving personality and memory for the future."