When Masha Drokova became one of the leaders of ‘Nashi’, a pro-government Russian youth movement, many years ago, who would have guessed her business successes in Silicon Valley would be featured one day in top US publications?
Drokova’s first professional experience as a TV host and producer in 2008 prepared her to make a lightning career in the PR industry. Stepping away from politics, she first worked with Serguei Beloussov, a Russian-born international tech entrepreneur. She managed the media relations of Russian Quantum Center, Acronis and Runa Capital, three organizations involving Beloussov.
Later Drokova founded her PR studio. She succeeded so well that, in 2014, Business Insider listed her among the “50 Best Public Relations People In The Tech Industry.“
In 2016, the young woman turned angel investor, betting on such companies as Truebill, Acquired.io, MEL Science, DigitalGenius, Chatfuel, Ntechlab, Piper, HIVE and others.
“I made more than six-fold cash return in the first 1.5 year through exits from Ntechlab and Acquired.io, and the remaining startups continues to grow,” Drokova told East-West Digital News.
In Jan 2018, aged just 28, she launched Day One Ventures, leveraging the experience gained at Runa. Based in San Francisco, this early-stage venture capital firm claims to be the only one that combines investment with PR support for portfolio companies.
“This approach allows us play a real, tangible role in helping our portfolio companies grow and succeed,” Drokova said.
Drokova mentions “execs at Salesforce, Barclays, Goldman Sachs, founders of Acronis, Parallels as well as a few family offices and bank owners in Europe” as investors in Day One Ventures.
The firm invested alongside top funds, like Founders Fund, Lightspeed, Andreessen, Kleiner Perkins, Index, Accel, Sequoia, Benchmark, NEA, and others.
The portfolio companies of Day One Ventures span across a variety of industries from science and parenting, to artificial intelligence and virtual reality, to B2C platforms and consumer products. The list includes Superhuman, Catalog DNA, Truebill, Atom Finance, YOLO, Nebia, Public Goods, Atoms, “and many others.”
“We’ve already made three successful exits,” says Drokova, without providing further details.
What Drokova calls “a new VC model” was noticed last year by Forbes, which featured her in its “30 Under 30” list for VC activity.
She was also mentioned among “eight women founders to watch” by Business Insider.
Far from the Valley, some 15 years ago, Drokova was known in Russia as “the girl who kissed Putin.” The teenager met the Russian president and planted a kiss on his cheek under a camera’s eye. She later received a national medal for her achievements in the youth movement.
Earlier this week a US online community published an interview with the business woman. She provided insights into her way from PR to VC and shared her views on women’s empowerment in the financial industry.
