Only 10% of Americans believe artificial intelligence provides more benefits than drawbacks. A mere 20% expressed confidence in cryptocurrency at its peak. The majority — 60% — harbor reservations about AI applications in health care.
For Masha Bucher, founder and general partner of Day One Ventures, these numbers illustrate a fundamental disconnect between technological innovation and public acceptance — a gap she believes can be closed through a creative approach to communication.
“From day one, we’ve believed in the transformative power of storytelling, art, and culture to bridge this gap,” Bucher told Forbes in a recent interview.
Her thesis is now backed by $150 million in fresh capital. Day One Ventures recently closed its third fund, one of the two largest raised by a solo female general partner in the past year. The new vehicle brings the firm’s total assets under management to $500 million, up from the $11 million it managed five years ago.
In addition to AI, climate, enterprise software, fintech, and crypto, and deep tech, the new fund introduces a new category of “The Future of Human,” backing technologies in sectors like whole genome sequencing in embryos, brain-computer interfaces, cryopreservation and more.
Day One Ventures’ Track Record
Day One Ventures’ limited partners span nearly 20 countries, including U.S. and European institutional investors, family offices, and private equity leaders. Notably, nine female limited partners joined Fund III — a significant shift from Fund II, which had none.
“We invest in founders who are building technologies to solve humanity’s most pressing issues,” says Bucher. She explained Day One’s approach to backing founders who “demonstrate a deep-seated customer obsession and pursue their life’s work with relentless dedication.”
The firm’s second fund, launched in 2020, has reported a 48% net internal rate of return — six times higher than the median for comparable North American funds under $250 million, according to Pitchbook data. Its portfolio companies have collectively raised over $2 billion and hold an aggregate valuation exceeding $115 billion.
Day One Ventures’ first fund reached a distributions to paid-in capital ratio of 1.0 times within three years, powered by successful exits like Truebill. Day One invested in Truebill at a $15 million valuation in 2018; the company was acquired by Rocket Companies for approximately $1.3 billion in 2021, with revenue surpassing $100 million at exit.
Building on Communication Foundations
Bucher’s approach to venture capital is grounded in a somewhat unusual background for a VC. At 23, she served as vice president of communications at Acronis, a Goldman Sachs and BlackRock-backed data protection company, managing public relations across 18 countries. She later founded a public relations studio that generated eight-figure revenue, working with companies like PandaDoc, Gett, HotelTonight, and WeWork — a dozen of which achieved unicorn status.
This communications expertise now informs Day One’s investment strategy. The firm provides portfolio companies with strategic communications support, helping founders develop narratives that advance specific business objectives, from fundraising to customer acquisition.
Day One’s distinctive approach to technology investment includes leveraging artists to make new technologies more accessible. The firm previously collaborated with OpenAI to organize the first physical DALL-E art exhibition in San Francisco, drawing more than 400 investors, founders, and collectors.
This integration of art and technology isn’t merely aesthetic. The goal is to use art and storytelling to open minds to technologies that could fundamentally reshape human capabilities.
Early investments of “The Future of Human” fund reflect this ambitious scope. One of its first investments, Cradle, is launching a new method for cryopreserving and reviving bodies and brains.
Other early Fund III investments include Astroforge, which develops asteroid mining technology, and Rainmaker, a firm that employs drones and advanced software for cloud seeding to address water shortages. The fund is also backing Layer N, which has developed a high-performance, horizontally scalable blockchain network aimed at enabling secure, decentralized computing on a large scale.
Portfolio and Partnership
Day One Ventures typically invests $1 million to $2 million initially, with follow-on investments of up to $15 million. Its portfolio includes founders like Sam Altman of World (formerly Worldcoin) and OpenAI, Job van der Voort of remote.com, and Richard Socher of you.com. Day One frequently co-invests with established firms including Sequoia, Andreessen Horowitz, and Founders Fund. Bucher explained that roughly 80% of Fund II’s investments came through founder introductions. The firm has achieved 23 exits, including one IPO, and Bucher has personally invested early in eight companies that reached unicorn status.
Deal flow remains robust, with the firm evaluating approximately 1,000 companies monthly while investing in only one or two every two months. The selection process emphasizes transformative potential over incremental improvements. “It has to be a 10 out of 10 idea. We will never back a company with a 9 out of 10 idea,” Bucher explained.
Day One’s expansion comes at a critical juncture for technology investment. Public skepticism toward emerging technologies persists even as innovation accelerates. Through Fund III, the firm’s unique approach of blending creative vision and technological innovation can reshape the discussion around a next generation of life-changing technologies.
