Masha Drokova

Masha Drokova, also known as Masha Bucher, is an investor and entrepreneur. She was born in Tambov, Russia, to a middle-class family. At the age of fifteen, she joined a Pro-Putin youth movement called "Nashi". She became a well-known leader of the patriotic organization but left in 2010 due to disagreements with the tactics being used to show patriotism. Drokova earned a master of Public Administration from Lomonosov Moscow State University in 2011.

After graduation, Drokova worked in public relations (PR) for companies with ties to Sergei Beloussov, a technology entrepreneur. Such companies include Russian Quantum Center, Acronis, and Runa Capital. She later immigrated to the United States in 2014 and opened her own PR firm in New York City in 2014 and worked with companies such as HotelTonight and Houzz.

Drokova started acting as an angel investor in 2016 and has invested in companies such as Lithic, DigitalGenius, MEL Science, Chatfuel, Piper, Filecoin, Acquired.io, and Truebill. In 2018, Drokova founded San Francisco-based Day One Ventures, a venture capital firm that also helps its portfolio companies with their marketing and communications.

Drokova has received a variety of recognition and awards:

• Winning the All-Russian Olympiads of social science in 2006
• Being the subject of Sundance Film Festival award-winning documentary "Putin's Kiss"
• Named as one of The 50 Best Public Relations People In The Tech Industry In 2014 by Business Insider
• Named as one of Forbes' 30 Under 30 for venture capital in 2019
• Named as one of the rising stars in venture capital in 2020 by Business Insider