How this Entrepreneur Created a San Francisco-based Company That Helps States to Improve Their Social Services Initially envisioning a future in academia, Kucher gradually realized that the field of information technology captivated him far more.

By Ipsita Mathur

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Dmitrii Kucher

Dmitrii Kucher has been passionate about physics, mathematics, and programming since high school. At a young age, he developed his first computer program to analyze experimental data collected by his relative at the Verkin Institute for Low-Temperature Physics and Engineering in Kharkiv. Initially envisioning a future in academia, Kucher gradually realized that the field of information technology captivated him far more.

At that time, Ukraine's IT market was still in its infancy, valued at just around USD 110 million in 2003. However, it quickly became a rising star in the country's economy, offering lucrative salaries and promising career prospects. This booming industry attracted talented individuals like Kucher, eager to carve out their place in the tech world. 'In the early 2000s, IT was something entirely new – a window into a world of opportunity,' Kucher recalls.

In his twenties, he crossed paths with Dmitro Breslavets, a graduate of the Kharkiv National University of Radio Electronics. Bonding over their mutual disdain for inefficiency, software bugs, and hard-coding—which they dubbed 'sovok' (a term for outdated Soviet-style approaches)—the two decided to create something where those flaws would have no place. In 2005, they turned this vision into reality by launching their IT company, P2H. Twenty years later their company grew to a multinational enterprise offering original solutions to innovative companies and international governments.

Groundbreaking Idea

Like many startups, P2H had humble beginnings. The company's first office was an internet café in a basement in Saltivka, a district of Kharkiv, Kucher tells. He not only rented the space but also the computers his team worked on. As the business grew, he managed to save enough money to buy their own equipment, eventually relocating from the basement to his grandmother's apartment to cut down on rental costs. 'We lived from client to client, barely making ends meet,' he recalls.

But persistence paid off. In their search for a high-demand niche, Kucher and his partner focused on developing a fast, reliable service for converting designs into pixel-perfect HTML code. This led to the creation of psd2html, a service that transformed design files into fully coded websites. The concept quickly gained global interest, as businesses no longer needed to invest heavily in building websites from scratch. 'Instead of hiring developers, sitting through endless meetings, and managing complex projects, companies could simply fill out a straightforward order form and receive a high-quality, ready-to-use website in no time,' Kucher explains.

At a certain point, the demand became so overwhelming that P2H struggled to handle all the orders. 'We constantly recruited new specialists, and after a few months, there weren't any free markup developers left in Kharkiv,' Kucher recalls. To address this issue, they realized the best solution was training new talent themselves. In 2007, they launched an educational program to train junior developers. Initially, it took six months to prepare a new recruit, but by 2009, the training period had been streamlined to just 1.5 months. This initiative enabled the company to scale sustainably and ensure a steady supply of skilled professionals. Overall, psd2html has served 22,000 clients to create 102,000 projects, generating USD 89 million in revenue for P2H.

P2H, through its flagship service PSD2HTML and a network of front-end development–focused white-label brands – including W3 Markup, CodeMyConcept, Markup Service, and others – has served over 30,000 corporate clients, delivering 125,000 projects to more than 125,000 end businesses worldwide. Across all front-end development brands, P2H has generated over $103 million in revenue.

Innovations brought to the global arena

Over the years, P2H continued to diversify its digital services and products thanks to Kucher's leadership and business vision. Since 2015, the company has actively participated in the digital transformation of the public sector, in particular with international governments and state institutions, with many clients based in the Middle East. Most of them are used in human resources.

One of P2H's most impactful projects in the Arab region is Qiwa, a governmental digital platform designed for employees and entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia. Qiwa provides a seamless, 24/7 online solution for managing businesses, finding job opportunities, and handling official matters with ease.

So far, the platform has been utilized by over 12 million registered and active users across the Kingdom, along with nearly 2.5 million registered establishments. Over the years, Qiwa has played a key role in renewing more than 105 million work permits, authenticating over 10.3 million contracts, and issuing nearly 9 million visas—transforming the way employment and business operations are managed in Saudi Arabia.

Another remarkable initiative by P2H is The National Donations Platform, a system dedicated to facilitating charitable giving. This platform streamlines the donation process, directing funds to essential causes such as life-saving emergency surgeries, youth development programs, clean water initiatives, and the provision of electrical appliances for those in need.

To date, generous donors in Saudi Arabia have made over 16.5 million transactions through the platform, supporting more than 34,000 charitable opportunities. This initiative has not only simplified philanthropy but also amplified its impact, ensuring help reaches those who need it most.

Headline

In total, P2H has created IT solutions for thousands of clients, from small digital agencies seeking out-of-the-box solutions to large corporations and government entities requiring complex, highly customized products. Among them are some major brands like global media and entertainment company Discovery, international creative network Behance, Swiss healthcare company Roche, among others.

Remarkably, their very first client remains with them to this day. Many others who initially used their early products return with requests for full-scale development. 'After almost 20 years, some clients still come back to us because they remember how well we executed short projects together,' Kucher says, 'and they ask whether the company—now a full-fledged developer—can take on something more.'

And any new clients come mostly through recommendations, a testament to Kucher's impeccable reputation in the industry. 'Having traveled this path, I can say with confidence that passion, persistence, and the right team can take you anywhere. A guy from Ukraine can build an international company known across the world, and that's exactly what we did with P2H,' Kucher notes.

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