The company called ‘Day One Ventures’ was launched in 2018 by Masha Bucher after she was laid off from her company. Under the programme called ‘Funded, Not Fired’ the firm will write cheques worth $100,000 to 20 start-ups by the end of the year

As giant tech companies are on a firing spree, a company called Day One Ventures has come to the rescue of all those who have lost their jobs or might lose their jobs.

Under the company’s flagship program called “Funded, not Fired”, the firm will write $100,000 cheques (around Rs 80 Lakh) to 20 start-ups by the end of the year.

Founder Masha Bucher believes that people who have been impacted by tech companies like Twitter, Meta and more recently Amazon’s rampant lay-offs will most likely go on to find their own companies, hence the program.

Founded in 2018, Day One Venture invests in companies across industries from pre-seed to seed. According to its website, the firm describes itself as an “early-stage venture capital firm that backs customer-obsessed companies and spearheads their communications.”

The inspiration behind the launch of such a company comes from Jeff Bezos’ ‘Day One’ philosophy. “Our name reminds us to live every day and make every decision as if it is Day One. When we evaluate companies, we look for the Day One mentality and a culture of undeniable customer obsession.”

Founder Masha Bucher’s story is in tune with the purpose of her company. She used to work as a TV reporter in Russia before moving to the US in 2014. Before launching Day One Ventures, she opened M&A PR Studio that worked with companies like Houzz, HotelTonight and WeWork.

“Being laid off was the best thing that ever happened to me. I started my first and second companies after being laid off from previous jobs,” she said.

Acknowledging the discouragement that comes with being laid off, the company thinks that getting out of one’s job demonstrates a person’s talents. The company’s aim is to invest in the top 0.01 per cent of laid-off tech talent.

The company also gives that extra push to people who are sceptical about finding their own company. Bucher said, “Don’t get me wrong, starting a company in this time when so many changes have happened over the last three years is hard. It definitely makes sense if people want to find a job or work with founders instead of become one.”

According to a report by CNBC, Day One Ventures has raised about $100 million, investing that money in over 100 companies. The company’s portfolio includes a diverse range of businesses.

How will Day One fund start-ups?

To be a part of the program, applicants have to fill out a comprehensive form that has questions like which company they were laid off from, place of their residence, areas of interest and the like. Apart from this, applicants have to pitch their start-up ideas to investors.

The firm wrote on its website, “With Funded, not Fired, you’ll get your first institutional angel check. Over the next month, we’re selecting 20 founders to invest in and support. Whether you have an idea already or not, let’s get to work.”

Top businesses from the groups of applicants will then be shortlisted to get follow-up capital from Day One Ventures. Following this, it will be the company’s responsibility to manage its pre-seed round with a $1 million cheque.

The firm will hand out $5 million to $10 million from its $52.5 million fund in total to support the companies founded by employees laid off from companies like Meta, Twitter and Amazon.

The selected candidates will have to pass a round of interviews and subsequent assessments.

However, Bucher also stressed that the program is not “a charity” and that the company will not favour ex-employees from companies like Twitter and Stripe, although they were the inspiration behind Funded, Not Fired.

Bucher said, “I hope we are doing something more than just giving tech workers hope.”

The company has already started accepting applications. The application process will go on till 25 November.

Other companies that fund start-ups

Day One Ventures might be the most recent firm to offer its money to support start-ups, but it’s not the only one.

A company called ‘Z Fellows’, launched by First Text—a company that connects founders to investors– in 2020, offers a week-long sabbatical program coupled with a $10,000 cheque to aspiring founders who want to launch a crypto start-up.

According to a report by TechCrunch, Z Fellows is among the first companies to launch such a program specifically for crypto-based start-ups.

In the same year, Cleo Capital launched a fellowship program for laid-off workers. The program includes a speaker who talks on a series of topics like how to pitch, structure a cap table and plan for a fundraiser. After this session, participants are added to a Slack group to help them communicate with each other. The program also has a video chat session and the program ends with a peer presentation day.

Why are tech giants laying off so many people?

In this month alone, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, cut-off 13 per cent of its workforce. Meanwhile, Elon Musk, after a successful takeover of Twitter, laid off half of the company’s employees.

The reason behind the string of layoffs, experts say, is because of a “triple whammy” – a slowed-down economy, inflation and an end to pandemic-driven growth.

According to a report by DailyMail, a tech analyst Paolo Pescatore, said that apart from the above-mentioned reasons, some companies have also made “huge gambles which will take many years to come to fruition, let alone think about making a profit.”