Meet Dmytro Bilash, co-founder of Captain Growth

We believe AI is not just the future of marketing – it’s the present. Over the last few months we have been on the hunt for companies leading the way in AI for digital advertising, and Captain Growth ticked all the boxes.

Recently, our group (Perion) acquired Captain Growth: an AI algorithm that ingests and analyzes ad performance data—including results by segments, creative and budget—and delivers “Value Unlock” recommendations which users can accept or reject.

A constant search for better performance

We know our clients are always working to find and scale their most valuable ad units. This move is going to automate that process, making it easier than ever before for Paragone clients to discover ways to improve performance and drive better business results. In fact, the recommendations provided by this AI can be applied automatically and immediately to an advertiser’s campaigns, in the simple click of a button.

We’re excited to be able to bring a whole new level of intelligent automation to our client’s campaigns, helping them save time and money, and focus their efforts where it really matters.

To learn more about the dynamic team powering this AI technology, we spoke with co-founder Dmytro Bilash.

Q: WHAT LED YOU TO DEVELOP THIS TECHNOLOGY?

“My business partner Dmytro Plieshakov and I have been working in marketing for a long time. Our first business was a digital agency that provided marketing services to companies across the EU. During this period, we gained a lot of practical knowledge and realized how time-consuming marketers’ operational routines could be.

Meanwhile, we were learning more about data science. It was completely clear to us that marketing was the next industry that was going to be totally reshaped by AI and we wanted to take part in it.

We transformed the agency into an IT development company that provided services uniting marketing and data science. After some time, we decided to productize the experience we gained working on projects for big businesses.

Our AI product was formed out of our practical experience. We know how complicated daily ads management can be and we saw room for significant improvement in this process. We wanted to help professionals automate their daily marketing routines—the ones we knew so well as marketers ourselves—to make them easier.”

Q: WHAT DOES YOUR TYPICAL DAY LOOK LIKE?

“It’s changing a lot right now. Being part of the Perion family means working as a global team, and I enjoy this feeling of cooperation across the globe. We’re working on tasks in Ukraine, meanwhile, other colleagues are working with us in Paris, Tel-Aviv, and New York to reach a global goal. Being part of a really big story is very exciting!”

Q: WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT WHAT YOU DO?

“Every day we invent something new. Usually, there is no straightforward solution for our tasks and we need to find a better way to address global industry issues. It’s adventurous!”

Q: HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR TEAM?

“Inventors and game-changers. Our key expertise is not just AI development. It’s finding unexpected, creative, and effective ways to solve tasks. We like to set up new rules and reshape processes.”

The team behind Captain Growth meeting the team at Paragone in April.

Q: WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT HAS BEEN?

“I believe that our team is the key achievement. We went through startup jungles as an early-stage company together and managed to create extremely valuable technology. It’s a big deal.”

Q: HOW DO YOU SEE THE CAPTAIN GROWTH INTEGRATION WITH MAKEMEREACH?

“We are excited about bringing our AI to a much bigger scale. Paragone works with industry leaders and we are happy that we’ll be able to apply our technology to provide these clients with another powerful solution.

Working now as part of the Paragone team is a real pleasure. We feel that we all have the same mindset. Coming in, we feel we have similar strengths in creativity and professionalism. Having these two shared strengths, and now as part of the same team, we know we can reach ambitious goals together!”

Like the sound of working at Paragone?

We currently have a number of roles available in our growing team! If you like the sound of working here, check out our open positions!