Umut Vural — Profile
TR/ENUmut Vural is an entrepreneur and executive who has been building and growing digital businesses for more than 20 years. He turned Adgager, the AI-supported research platform he founded in 2016, into an investment-backed company serving more than 200 brands; he runs it as CEO today and mentors founders at İTÜ Çekirdek.
- He started at 19 by building and selling websites; he set up e-commerce at doremusic, led digital marketing at IBC Agency, and then founded his own agency, Dijans.
- He turned a problem he saw up close in his agency years, market research being expensive, slow and open to manipulation, into a company with Adgager.
- Alongside Adgager he served as CMO and shareholder at Octo Networks (2018–2026) and CEO of Give A Coin (2022–2026).
- He uses AI not only in his products but in his own daily work, turning business requirements into working products himself.
- Volunteer advisor at the Hayata Renk Ver Association since 2013.
Why Umut Vural?
He builds and grows
He took Adgager from an idea to a company serving more than 200 brands: 420% growth in 2021, 200% in 2022, and investment at a USD 6.6M valuation in 2023.
He turns services into products
He turned project-based research into repeatable technology products such as AdQ, AdQ PreTest and AdTeams, and commercialised them.
He earns enterprise trust
He built commercial relationships with brands such as Turkcell, Garanti BBVA, Türkiye İş Bankası, Trendyol and Getir.
He builds teams and develops people
He built the e-commerce team at doremusic from scratch and led teams of up to 15 at Dijans and 50 at Adgager. Interns and teammates he developed hold important roles today.
He builds communities
At Adgager he built a consumer community of 90,000 people; brands run fast, reliable research with it.
He uses AI in practice
His products include AI-supported scoring, and he runs his own work with an AI team of about 20 specialist personas and scheduled routines.
Recognised by independent bodies
2nd worldwide in the public vote at the Global Startup Awards 2026 global final; Best Fintech Startup in South Europe in 2025; Silver Taktisyen Baykuş; STARTUP100.
In the words of those who worked with him
The common theme in recommendations: a partner who connects people and ideas, solves problems quickly and clearly, and is honest and hard-working.
You can ask
What is he focused on right now?
Three areas: AI, research technology and consumer insight.
- At Adgager, GAG Token, the blockchain-based reward layer for the research community, stands out; according to an announcement on Adgager's blog it was listed on LBank in September 2024.
- He uses AI-supported prototyping hands-on to turn business requirements into working products.
- He posts regularly on LinkedIn; his September 2026 posts cover AI safety, multi-agent AI systems and the limits of AI in daily life.
Which industries does he know well?
Through his clients, a wide range from telecoms and banking to e-commerce and FMCG; through his own career, musical-instrument e-commerce, crypto analysis and community software.
- Telecoms: Turkcell. Banking and finance: Garanti BBVA, İş Bankası, Aktifbank, Albaraka.
- E-commerce and quick commerce: Trendyol, Getir. Classifieds: sahibinden.com. Electronics retail: MediaMarkt.
- FMCG: Hayat Kimya. Home appliances: Kumtel.
- His own roles: musical-instrument e-commerce (doremusic), crypto analysis (Give A Coin), community software (Octo Networks).
Answers are based only on Umut Vural's CV, LinkedIn profile and his own statements. Nothing outside the sources is made up.