Firms

Day One Ventures

New York, New York · Los Angeles, California · San Francisco, California

dayoneventures.co

signal.nfx.com

goldi.ai

dayoneventures.com

Day One Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm founded by Masha Bucher in 2018, based in San Francisco. The firm backs customer-obsessed companies and spearheads their communications, combining investment with hands-on PR and storytelling support to accelerate mass adoption of technologies.

Founded: 2017
Type: Venture capital

Funds3

Fund III2024-06-112024-06-11$150M
Publicly announced USD150M closed Fund III; initial USD100M target distinct. SEC2025 amendment amounts not retrieved; no inferred increase.
Fund II2020-11-242020-11-24—
USD52.5M reported filing amount, not independently verified final close; approximately USD50M elsewhere. Amount null rather than asserting final commitments.
Day One Ventures Fund I—$20M
USD 20 million reported historically [Tech Funding News, June 12, 2024](https://techfundingnews.com/masha-buchers-day-one-ventures-secures-150m-fund-iii-aims-to-redefine-future-of-human/) describes Fund I at $20 million and Fund II at a rounded $50 million. Fund I exact closing date and a primary close announcement were not found.

Team

Melanie Galang Day One Ventures, Head of Communications	$1M$500K – $5M	Los Angeles, California
Masha Bucher Day One Ventures, general_partner	$1M$500K – $5M	New York, New York
Drake Austin Rehfeld Day One Ventures, principal	$100K$100K – $1M	Los Angeles, California
Jenny Chao Day One Ventures, investor	—$500K – $5M	New York, New York
Avik Wadhwa Day One Ventures, Investor	—— – —
Drake Rehfeld Day One Ventures, Leading fund finance and operations	—— – —

Investments

team@apexlogos.ai3 hours ago
Investment-fund research reviewed 2026-10-06. Publicly identified funds, dates, amounts and fundraising status are below. Undisclosed commitments remain unknown; this is not a complete register of private SPVs or parallel entities. Funds and investment stages | Vehicle or metric | Amount and status | Dated evidence and limits | |---|---|---| | Fund III, 2024 vintage | **USD 150 million publicly announced closed fund**, rather than a $150 million target | The official homepage carries the Fund III announcement headline. Fortune's June 11, 2024 report, available in [Yahoo syndication](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/exclusive-day-one-ventures-closes-114646222.html), describes a close above the original USD 100 million target. This is the latest-known named fund located in this pass; searches for Fund IV did not identify a reliable announcement. | | Fund II, 2020 | USD 52.5 million reported filing | [TechCrunch, November 24, 2020](https://techcrunch.com/2020/11/24/two-year-old-day-one-ventures-raises-new-52-5m-fund-to-invest-in-valley-startups/). Final close not independently established. | | Fund I | USD 20 million reported historically | [Tech Funding News, June 12, 2024](https://techfundingnews.com/masha-buchers-day-one-ventures-secures-150m-fund-iii-aims-to-redefine-future-of-human/) describes Fund I at $20 million and Fund II at a rounded $50 million. Fund I exact closing date and a primary close announcement were not found. | | Firm AUM | USD 450 million reported June 2024; over USD 500 million claimed later in 2024 | Fortune's June 11 report in [Yahoo syndication](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/exclusive-day-one-ventures-closes-114646222.html) gives $450 million. [Forbes contributor profile, November 18, 2024](https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomteicholz/2024/11/18/day-one-ventures--masha-bucher-big-ideas-for-humanity/) reports over $500 million from firm-supplied materials, accessible through search-index text. These are AUM claims, not individual fund commitments or available investment capital. | An [SEC Fund III D/A filing index](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/2009720/000200972025000001/0002009720-25-000001-index.htm) was located with filing date April 16, 2025, after the public 2024 close report. The index establishes a later amendment, but document retrieval failed; amounts sold and final close mechanics were therefore not checked. It does not by itself negate the announced $150 million fund. Do not infer an updated fund size from the amendment's existence. Search also surfaced third-party copies of material labelled confidential LP correspondence; these were not used as verification. **Current public mandate:** the [firm homepage](https://www.dayoneventures.com/) describes early-stage investing, with AI, fintech, climate/energy, enterprise, future of work, consumer, deep tech and web3 coverage. The [firm's LinkedIn company description](https://www.linkedin.com/company/day-one-ventures/) specifies pre-seed and seed, occasional Series A, and checks of USD 100,000–5 million. The page is undated and may retain historical wording, so that check range should be labelled published guidance rather than guaranteed current Fund III terms. The official [Funded Not Fired program](https://fnf.dayoneventures.com/) separately offers $100,000 SAFE investments and possible $1 million seed leads; those are program terms, not a fund's size or a universal check policy. Historical later-stage participation in the snapshot does not redefine the early-stage mandate. Funds recorded in Adex after this review: | Fund | Disclosed amount | Announcement / filing date | | --- | --- | --- | | Day One Ventures Fund I | USD 20000000 | Unknown | | Fund II | Undisclosed / unverified | 2020-11-24 | | Fund III | USD 150000000 | 2024-06-11 |
team@apexlogos.ai4 hours ago
Match research 2026-10-06 / DayOneVentures / sha256:34a507ed057b2072ff137998310b3354e810d19600d0e1b9b0490fba760a7c86 / part 2 of 2 Imported completed research. Baseline Adex/Signal statements describe prior state, not independent verification. Retain cited attribution, date, currency and classification caveats. A follow-on **USD 130 million Valar Series A**, with Day One a co-lead, is reported in [LA Times Studios, December 17, 2025](https://www.latimes.com/b2b/banking-finance/story/2025-12-17/valar-atomics-raises-130-million-nuclear-fission). Valar's [official library](https://www.valaratomics.com/docs) links its Series A announcement; [CEO Isaiah Taylor's linked post/interview](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/isaiahptaylor_full-tbpn-segment-on-our-130m-series-a-activity-7393802572224118784-MWGg) confirms the amount and stage and explains the transition from prototype work to reactor operation. The post rendering gives a relative date only. The LA Times page discloses company-sourced information; exact transaction announcement date should be verified before creating a dated follow-on participation. No claim of Day One participation in later Valar rounds is made here. **Additional official portfolio evidence:** [Day One's site](https://www.dayoneventures.com/) lists Symbolica, describing machine cognitive architectures. This establishes a public firm portfolio claim, but round and date were not independently reconciled; the snapshot contains overlapping Symbolica/“Symbolica AI” $33 million entries. Ordinary enterprise AI, captioning, recruiting and tax-preparation applications were not automatically classified as deep tech. Esper's satellite lead remains in the saved snapshot and needs separate round/source verification; the name should not be confused with Esper Bionics. ## Neurotechnology and adjacent neuroscience investments **Merge Labs — verified direct neurotechnology backing, with financial attribution limits.** Masha Bucher's [public LinkedIn post](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mashadrokova_introducing-merge-labs-activity-7417662890037493760-VdSr) expressly states she is backing Merge **from Day One Ventures**. This is a direct firm attribution by its founder, stronger than an inferred personal investment, but no individual check amount or vehicle is disclosed. The post's retrieved page provides a relative age rather than an exact publication date. Merge's [official launch announcement, January 15, 2026](https://merge.io/blog) describes brain-computer interfaces using molecular approaches and ultrasound to interact with neurons while avoiding implants into brain tissue. This is direct neural-interface R&D and belongs in both neurotech and deep tech. It is an early research lab, not evidence of a commercially validated device. [TechCrunch, January 15, 2026](https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/15/openai-invests-in-sam-altmans-brain-computer-interface-startup-merge-labs/) reports USD 250 million seed funding; the company did not disclose that amount. [Essential Technology's same-day announcement](https://www.essentialtechnology.blog/p/announcing-merge-labs), by the organization associated with Forest Neurotech's origins, gives USD 252 million. Preserve the **$250 million versus $252 million** reporting difference; neither source establishes Day One's check or exact subscription date. Forest's relationship to Merge is not evidence that Day One invested in Forest. **Mindstate Design Labs — verified neuroscience drug discovery, adjacent rather than direct neural hardware.** [Fierce Biotech, March 13, 2024](https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/mindstates-first-ai-derived-psychedelic-heads-clinic) names Day One Ventures among backers of its USD 11.5 million seed round and explains its computational analysis of psychedelic experiences to select drug candidates. This supports neuroscience/psychedelic therapeutics and data-driven biotech, not BCI, neural sensing or stimulation hardware. Directory sources place the seed in February 2022, but the exact announcement day was not independently verified here; use month/year with that caveat. Some directories label Day One lead, whereas reporting only supports participation; do not assert lead status. Max Hodak's separate angel investment does not imply a Neuralink investment or affiliation. ## Conflicts, gaps and concrete Adex review notes 1. **Separate Day One Ventures from Day One Capital before accepting European investments.** [Day One Capital's official portfolio](https://dayonecapital.com/portfolio) lists Allonic, ABZ Innovation, Commsignia, Whalebone, FLOWX.AI, Colossyan, Veridion, Volteum and Spaceflow, all also present in the saved Ventures snapshot. Shared portfolio overlap alone cannot prove exclusion, but exact source attribution is necessary. In particular, the snapshot's [ABZ article, January 22, 2026](https://www.eu-startups.com/2026/01/with-china-leading-global-drone-manufacturing-hungarys-abz-innovation-raises-e7-million-to-expand-heavy-duty-drones/) names **Day One Capital**, not Ventures, in €7 million funding; the stored USD 8 million/Series A claim should not be accepted as a verified Ventures transaction. [Capital's official news](https://dayonecapital.com/news?841a0a26_page=5) attributes Allonic's February 10, 2026 $7.2 million pre-seed to Capital. Ventures attribution for Allonic remains unverified. Do not import Capital's €45 million fund or euro check guidance into this record. 2. Add Merge Labs as a review candidate with the founder's explicit firm attribution and official technology source; retain undisclosed check/vehicle/date and round-size conflict. Keep Mindstate separately tagged as neuroscience therapeutics. 3. Reconcile 2017 directory foundation versus the widely reported 2018 launch, and New York/Los Angeles directory geography versus the firm's published San Francisco headquarters. A legal incorporation year could differ from operating launch; that explanation has not been verified. 4. Review duplicate company labels (Owner/Owner.com, Symbolica/Symbolica AI, Superpower/Superpower Health) and Drake person records before counting investments or adding entries. Source dates, round totals and individual investor amounts must remain distinct. 5. Fund III is the latest-known announcement found, not proof no later fund exists. Obtain accessible SEC amendment amounts and a dated official close statement if final legal commitments or current AUM are needed. The rendered current website portfolio is partial and category dependent; omission is not proof of divestment or lack of investment. This file is a research artifact for later review only. No Adex or database update was made.
team@apexlogos.ai4 hours ago
Match research 2026-10-06 / DayOneVentures / sha256:34a507ed057b2072ff137998310b3354e810d19600d0e1b9b0490fba760a7c86 / part 1 of 2 Imported completed research. Baseline Adex/Signal statements describe prior state, not independent verification. Retain cited attribution, date, currency and classification caveats. # Day One Ventures - **Exact Adex ID:** `DayOneVentures` - **Canonical Adex URL:** https://adex.page/firms/DayOneVentures - **Research date:** 2026-10-06 - **Status:** complete research pass; attribution and financial reporting gaps retained below. - **Official website:** https://www.dayoneventures.com/ Day One Ventures is Masha Bucher's early-stage venture firm, combining investment with communications support. Its website expressly includes deep tech among its sectors. Verified examples include quantum computing, space robotics and industrial biotechnology; a newly identified direct neurotechnology investment is Merge Labs. A major review issue is contamination of the saved portfolio with investments of **Day One Capital**, a distinct Budapest-based firm. [Official firm site, undated](https://www.dayoneventures.com/); [Day One Capital portfolio, undated](https://dayonecapital.com/portfolio). All sources below were accessed 2026-10-06; publication dates are supplied where available. ## Starting evidence: Adex and NFX Signal The saved exact-ID snapshot `data/research/_sources/DayOneVentures.adex.json`, retrieved 2026-10-06, describes a firm established by Masha Bucher in 2018 and based in San Francisco, but its structured `founded` field says 2017 and locations include New York and Los Angeles. Check-size fields are null. Its named investment leads include QuEra, Valar Atomics, Starpath Robotics, Epoch, Esper, Symbolica and Mindstate, alongside many software businesses and European deals. These stored claims are starting evidence, not independent verification; shared round metadata sometimes cites other investors or personal Signal histories. [NFX firm profile](https://signal.nfx.com/firms/day-one-ventures) was directly read. It lists 2017 foundation and New York/Los Angeles locations, and a broad coinvestor network, but the rendered team section supplied no substantive team rows. No fund size or investment-stage mandate was visible. Treat its location/year as directory claims, not definitive historical evidence. The snapshot's [Melanie Galang Signal profile](https://signal.nfx.com/investors/melanie-galang), also directly read, now describes her as an **Andreessen Horowitz partner**, with $500,000–$5 million range, $1.5 million sweet spot and $2.2 billion current fund. Those figures belong to the displayed current investing affiliation and must **not** be imported as Day One Ventures fund or check data. Her stored Day One communications role may be historical; the sources checked do not establish its end date. The duplicate Drake Rehfeld/Drake Austin Rehfeld person entries also require identity review. ## Funds and investment stages | Vehicle or metric | Amount and status | Dated evidence and limits | |---|---|---| | Fund III, 2024 vintage | **USD 150 million publicly announced closed fund**, rather than a $150 million target | The official homepage carries the Fund III announcement headline. Fortune's June 11, 2024 report, available in [Yahoo syndication](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/exclusive-day-one-ventures-closes-114646222.html), describes a close above the original USD 100 million target. This is the latest-known named fund located in this pass; searches for Fund IV did not identify a reliable announcement. | | Fund II, 2020 | USD 52.5 million reported filing | [TechCrunch, November 24, 2020](https://techcrunch.com/2020/11/24/two-year-old-day-one-ventures-raises-new-52-5m-fund-to-invest-in-valley-startups/). Final close not independently established. | | Fund I | USD 20 million reported historically | [Tech Funding News, June 12, 2024](https://techfundingnews.com/masha-buchers-day-one-ventures-secures-150m-fund-iii-aims-to-redefine-future-of-human/) describes Fund I at $20 million and Fund II at a rounded $50 million. Fund I exact closing date and a primary close announcement were not found. | | Firm AUM | USD 450 million reported June 2024; over USD 500 million claimed later in 2024 | Fortune's June 11 report in [Yahoo syndication](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/exclusive-day-one-ventures-closes-114646222.html) gives $450 million. [Forbes contributor profile, November 18, 2024](https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomteicholz/2024/11/18/day-one-ventures--masha-bucher-big-ideas-for-humanity/) reports over $500 million from firm-supplied materials, accessible through search-index text. These are AUM claims, not individual fund commitments or available investment capital. | An [SEC Fund III D/A filing index](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/2009720/000200972025000001/0002009720-25-000001-index.htm) was located with filing date April 16, 2025, after the public 2024 close report. The index establishes a later amendment, but document retrieval failed; amounts sold and final close mechanics were therefore not checked. It does not by itself negate the announced $150 million fund. Do not infer an updated fund size from the amendment's existence. Search also surfaced third-party copies of material labelled confidential LP correspondence; these were not used as verification. **Current public mandate:** the [firm homepage](https://www.dayoneventures.com/) describes early-stage investing, with AI, fintech, climate/energy, enterprise, future of work, consumer, deep tech and web3 coverage. The [firm's LinkedIn company description](https://www.linkedin.com/company/day-one-ventures/) specifies pre-seed and seed, occasional Series A, and checks of USD 100,000–5 million. The page is undated and may retain historical wording, so that check range should be labelled published guidance rather than guaranteed current Fund III terms. The official [Funded Not Fired program](https://fnf.dayoneventures.com/) separately offers $100,000 SAFE investments and possible $1 million seed leads; those are program terms, not a fund's size or a universal check policy. Historical later-stage participation in the snapshot does not redefine the early-stage mandate. ## Verified previous deep-tech investments Round amounts are company-wide financing totals, **not Day One Ventures' individual checks**. Firm attribution below is explicit in the linked source, rather than inferred from a partner's previous employer. | Company | Technology rationale | Firm participation, date and evidence | |---|---|---| | **QuEra Computing** | Neutral-atom quantum computing based on Harvard/MIT research; physical quantum hardware and scalable qubit control | QuEra's own [November 17, 2021 launch release](https://www.quera.com/press-releases/harvard-and-mit-scientists-launch-quera-computing-inc-to-build-quantum-computers-for-todays-impossible-problems) names Day One Ventures among investors in USD 17 million financing and describes a 256-qubit device. Stage is not specified in this primary release; retain “initial financing/stealth launch” rather than inventing Series A. | | **Starpath Robotics** | Lunar mining hardware, rovers and resource extraction for off-Earth operations | [Los Angeles Business Journal, August 26, 2024](https://labusinessjournal.com/manufacturing/starpath-raises-12-million-seed-round/) names Day One Ventures in USD 12 million seed funding led by 8VC and Fusion Fund. The article also discusses its rover's NASA challenge award. No evidence here that Day One led the round. | | **Epoch Biodesign** | Engineered enzymes for plastic degradation and industrial biorecycling | Company counsel [Goodwin, March 6, 2025](https://www.goodwinlaw.com/en/news-and-events/news/2025/03/announcements-technology-epoch-biodesign-series-a-funding) explicitly names Day One Ventures in USD 18.3 million Series A led by Extantia. It describes scaling plastic-eating enzymes from laboratory work into a production facility. The snapshot uses company ID `Epoch`; verify company identity before linking. | | **Valar Atomics** | Nuclear reactor engineering | Day One joined USD 19 million seed financing: [TechCrunch, February 20, 2025](https://techcrunch.com/2025/02/20/valar-atomics-comes-out-of-stealth-with-19m-and-a-pilot-reactor-site/). |
team@apexlogos.ai22 days ago
MATCH

$252M2026-01-15	Merge Labs	Bain Capital, OpenAI, Interface Fund, Julia Prakapovich, Fifty Years, Seth Bannon, Gabe Newell, Interface Capital, Sequoia Scout Fund, OpenAI, Day One Ventures
$17M2025-05-21	Filed	Northzone, Day One Ventures
$—2025-05-13	Owner.com	Day One Ventures
$—2025-04-09	Artisan	Y Combinator, Day One Ventures, HubSpot Ventures, Glade Brook Capital Partners, Z Fellows
$19M2025-02-20	Valar Atomics	Day One Ventures
$5M2024-10-17	Abel	Y Combinator, Long Journey Ventures, Day One Ventures
$1M2024-09-09	NetNow	Day One Ventures
$—2024-09-04	You.com	Day One Ventures
$12M2024-08-20	Starpath Robotics	8VC, Day One Ventures, Masha Bucher, Barend Van den Brande
$—2024-04-23	Texture	Day One Ventures
$17M2024-03-05	Harness Wealth	Day One Ventures
$—2023-10-11	Moonhub	Khosla Ventures, Day One Ventures, Time BioVentures, GV, Index Ventures
$15M2023-10-05	Vibrant Planet	Day One Ventures
$25M2023-09-26	Series	Basis Set Ventures, Day One Ventures, Pear VC, Mario Gabriele, Annelies Gamble
$—2023-03-21	Two	Sequoia, Alumni Ventures, Day One Ventures, Visionaries, Shine Capital, Alliance VC
$20M2023-02-15	Superplastic	Amazon Alexa Fund, Day One Ventures
$6M2023-02-09	Regie	Khosla Ventures, Foundation Capital, Day One Ventures, Scale Venture Partners, South Park Commons
$10M2022-09-28	Regie	Day One Ventures
$1M2022-08-01	Concert Bio	Day One Ventures
$25M2022-07-14	You.com	Radical Ventures, Day One Ventures, Scott Beechuk
$3M2022-05-26	Friendly Apps	BoxGroup, Day One Ventures
$16M2022-04-19	Enso	Khosla Ventures, Decacorn Capital, Innovation Nest, Samsung Next, Day One Ventures, SignalFire, Y Combinator
$15M2022-03-03	Owner.com	Day One Ventures
$47M2022-02-24	AnyRoad	Day One Ventures, David Ulevitch
$5M2022	Paylode	Day One Ventures
$4M2022	Logseq	Andreessen Horowitz, Day One Ventures
$6M2021-11-19	Zuma	Y Combinator, Portage Ventures, Day One Ventures, Liquid 2 Ventures, Soma Capital
$17M2021-11-17	QuEra	Day One Ventures
$20M2021-11-09	You.com	Day One Ventures
$25M2021-10-21	Worldcoin	Day One Ventures
$20M2021-10-20	Superplastic	Founders Fund, Day One Ventures, GV, Index Ventures, Galaxy Ventures, Craft Ventures
$2M2021-10-15	Continuum Global Solutions	Uncork Capital, Day One Ventures
$10M2021-08-31	Owner.com	Day One Ventures
$2M2021-08-24	Infinite Canvas	Day One Ventures
$—2021-07-30	DoNotPay	Day One Ventures, Felicis, Lux Capital
$150M2021-07-13	Remote	General Catalyst, Day One Ventures, Accel, Index Ventures, Two Sigma Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Sequoia, Masha Bucher
$5M2021-05-25	Pathrise	Y Combinator, Day One Ventures, Learn Capital, Western Technology Investment, GoAhead Ventures
$6M2021	Snafu	Day One Ventures
$15M2021	Hofy	Day One Ventures, Kindred Ventures
$4M2020-12-10	Ava	Khosla Ventures, Day One Ventures, Initialized Capital
$17M2020-11-12	True Bill	Bessemer Venture Partners, Day One Ventures
$4M2020-10-06	Tone	Day One Ventures
$8M2020-02-28	Yolo	Day One Ventures
$2M2020-02	Snafu	Day One Ventures
$9M2019-10-22	Winnie	Afore Capital, Day One Ventures, Unusual Ventures
$5M2019-08-06	Squad	First Round, Y Combinator, Day One Ventures, Precursor Ventures, First Round Capital, Jane Street Capital, Dream Machine, Gina Bianchini
$4M2019-08-01	Holloway	Lightspeed, New Enterprise Associates, Day One Ventures, Abstract Ventures, Precursor Ventures, Royal Bank of Canada
$5M2019-05-30	Pillar	Day One Ventures
$7M2018-07-12	Octi	Day One Ventures
$1M2018-04-04	Knowhere	Day One Ventures
$5MUnknown date	Yuzu Health	Day One Ventures
$—Unknown date	Superpower	Day One Ventures
$3MUnknown date	Marveri	Day One Ventures
$3MUnknown date	Lantern	Day One Ventures
$1MUnknown date	Esper	Day One Ventures
$18MUnknown date	Epoch	Day One Ventures
$4MUnknown date	Archie	Day One Ventures
$11MUnknown date	Mindstate	Initialized Capital, Y Combinator, Metaplanet, Day One Ventures
$4MUnknown date	RMFG	Y Combinator, Day One Ventures, Balaji Srinivasan, Soma Capital
$4MUnknown date	Alga Biosciences	Y Combinator, Collaborative Fund, Day One Ventures, Pioneer Fund
$—Unknown date	Wordware	Y Combinator, Day One Ventures, Spark Capital, Felicis
$—Unknown date	Tivara	Y Combinator, Day One Ventures
$20MUnknown date	Regie	Khosla Ventures, Foundation Capital, Day One Ventures, Scale Venture Partners, South Park Commons
$33MUnknown date	Symbolica	Khosla Ventures, General Catalyst, Day One Ventures, Abstract Ventures, Buckley Ventures
$33MUnknown date	Symbolica AI	Abstract, Day One Ventures, Khosla Ventures, General Catalyst, Buckley Ventures, Abstract Ventures
$30M2025	Superpower Health	Day One Ventures
$120M2025	Owner	Day One Ventures
$2M2022-02-22	EWA	Day One Ventures
$3M2021-08-19	Launch House	Day One Ventures

Funds3

Team

Co-investing

Investments