By Exec Edge Editorial Staff
When Masha Bucher founded Day One Ventures in 2018, she built it on a contrarian premise: early-stage founders don’t just need capital—they need someone who can tell their story. Eight years later, that thesis has scaled into a fund with a portfolio captured over $250 billion in value, and 2025 is the year that proved it right—again.
This year, Masha Bucher and her team deployed capital across companies spanning nuclear energy, health, AI, mineral exploration, defense biotech, manufacturing, and robotics. The portfolio reads like a roadmap of where frontier tech meets real-world infrastructure—and where Day One’s signature communications model continues to give founders an edge, regardless of sector.
The 2025 Portfolio: Nine Bets on the Physical World
Epoch Biodesign – Series A, March 2025
Day One participated in Epoch Biodesign’s $18.3 million Series A, led by climate fund Extantia Capital. The London-based company engineers enzymes that break down plastics—including notoriously difficult materials like nylon and polyester blends—at room temperature, without toxic chemicals.
What started as founder Jacob Nathan’s high school science project has grown into a 30-person team with partnerships across 40 fashion and automotive brands. Epoch plans to open its first biorecycling facility in 2025, processing 150 metric tons of plastic waste annually, with commercial-scale operations targeted for 2028.
Filed – Seed, May 2025
Day One participated in Filed’s $17.2 million funding alongside Northzone. The Swedish-American startup uses AI to automate tax preparation for accounting firms—reading documents, applying firm-specific strategies, and entering data into existing software systems.
Co-founders Leroy Kerry and Atul Ramachandran launched Filed in August 2024 to address a looming crisis: 75% of U.S. accountants are approaching retirement, while 60% of American taxpayers rely on professional help for filing. The company already counts major firms like JCG Tax and KBS Tax as customers.
Durin – Pre-Seed, April 2025
Day One joined a $3.4 million pre-seed round in Durin alongside Andreessen Horowitz, Lux Capital, and 8090 Industries. Founded by 22-year-old Ted Feldmann, Durin is automating drill rigs for mineral exploration—an industry that hasn’t changed since the 1950s, creating a bottleneck crippling America’s critical mineral supply chain.
EVs need 6x more minerals than gas cars, data centers are expanding, and America imports 100% of 12 critical minerals. Drill costs are killing exploration ($200M per major discovery today vs $65M in 2005). Durin aims to cut this by 75%. The company is already working with Scout Discoveries on a Nevada gold project, and is part of the Rio Tinto-Founders Factory Mining Tech Accelerator.
Superpower – Series A, April 2025
Day One participated in Superpower’s $30 million Series A, led by Forerunner Ventures. The Los Angeles-based startup is building what it calls the world’s first health super app—offering biannual lab testing across more than 100 blood biomarkers for $199 a year, paired with AI-driven health protocols and concierge physician access.
Founder Max Marchione launched Superpower to close the gap between reactive mainstream medicine and the proactive, data-driven care previously available only to the wealthy. The company had 150,000 people on its waitlist at launch and reportedly crossed a $300 million valuation with the round. Celebrity backers include Vanessa Hudgens, Steve Aoki, and NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo.
RMFG – Pre-Seed, December 2025
Day One joined RMFG’s $4.5 million pre-seed round alongside Y Combinator, Soma Capital, and angel investors including Patrick Collison and Balaji Srinivasan. The Fort Worth, Texas-based startup is building AI-powered sheet metal factories to fuel what founder Kenneth Cassel calls a U.S. manufacturing “renaissance.”
Cassel, a 32-year-old college dropout and father of four who taught himself to code while working gas station maintenance, launched RMFG in mid-2024. The company’s software-defined factory uses AI agents and computer vision for instant quoting, automated quality control, and design adjustments—cutting lead times from months to weeks. RMFG has already shipped over 100,000 parts to roughly 200 customers, including fellow Day One portfolio companies Durin and Rainmaker.
Pilgrim – Seed, August 2025
Day One participated in Pilgrim’s $4.3 million seed round alongside Cantos VC, Thiel Capital, Refactor Capital, and angel investors Joshua Browder and Cory Levy. The Redwood City, California-based defense biotech startup is developing battlefield-ready medical technologies, starting with Kingsfoil—a clay-based hemostatic dressing that transforms into a gel-like sealant on contact with blood to rapidly close wounds.
Founder Jake Adler, a 21-year-old Thiel Fellow, started Pilgrim with the ambition of creating a new generation of military medicine. The company is also prototyping Voyager, an inhaled mist designed to neutralize chemical weapons, and ARGUS, a biosurveillance sensor network for detecting biological threats at ports and hospitals. Adler sees the Pentagon as the initial market, with plans to translate these technologies to civilian emergency medicine.
The PR Advantage in Deep Tech
Day One’s signature model—providing hands-on communications support to portfolio companies—delivered standout results across the 2025 portfolio. Nuclear energy, plastic recycling, autonomous mining, preventive health, defense biotech, and AI-driven manufacturing are categories where public perception directly shapes adoption, regulation, and fundraising. Day One’s team treats that reality as a strategic lever.
Valar Atomics’ cold criticality announcement generated coverage in Bloomberg, CNBC, TechCrunch, and dozens of other outlets within 48 hours. Epoch Biodesign’s Series A landed stories positioning the company at the intersection of climate tech and fashion. Superpower’s launch drove press across TechCrunch, Fierce Healthcare, and Endpoints News, turning a waitlist into mainstream visibility. These aren’t accidents—they’re the product of a firm that treats communications as a core competency rather than an afterthought.
Looking Ahead
With Fund III actively deploying Day One Ventures has established itself as one of the most distinctive early-stage firms in Silicon Valley.
For founders building in nuclear, biotech, climate, defense, manufacturing, or any sector where public perception shapes outcomes, Day One offers something rare: a partner that leads with conviction on day one—and brings the story to match.
Masha Bucher is the founder and general partner of Day One Ventures, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm.
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