CompanionLabs appoints Len Pagon to its board

After completing its $1.5 million round of seed funding, Akron-based CompanionLabs has appointed Len Pagon, chairman and CEO of Next Sparc LLC, to its board of directors.

The company made the announcement in a news release on Monday, July 9.

Next Sparc invests in emerging internet-based, software and service-based companies. CompanionLabs fits that bill. The young Akron company, through its plug-and-play apps, aims to help customers optimize their digital marketing dollars, particularly on Facebook.

Pagon is well-known in the digital marketing world. Before starting Next Sparc, he founded Brulant, which combined with Rosetta in 2008 to create one of the largest independent digital ad firms. Publicis in 2011 acquired Rosetta for $575 million.

“As we continue our rapid growth and scale to become a world-class company in the digital advertising space, it’s simply a great thing to have Len join the board and Next Sparc participate in this round,” said Brian Deagan, CompanionLabs CEO in a statement. “There’s just a lot to be said for ‘been-there-done-that’ experience, which Len brings in a big way.”

Next for CompanionLabs is continuing to invest heavily in data science and engineering to continue its work in advertising on Facebook and soon Google, the release said.

“CompanionLabs is a great addition to the Next Sparc portfolio,” Pagon said in the release. “Its stage and growth trajectory are right where our involvement can have maximum impact. I am looking forward to working with Brian and the team.”