Poncho delivers succinct, entertaining weather updates (with GIFs) via SMS, email and push so users receive need-to-know forecasts without opening a full weather app. It launched out of betaworks in New York and has expanded to offer alerts globally. The Poncho app emphasizes useful push notifications so users theoretically never need to open the app; the company previously experimented with an alarm-clock feature that was discontinued due to iOS Do Not Disturb. Poncho plans to add horoscopes, motivational content and offers, and is building a new backend to enable AI-driven personalization of weather, content and offers. The company reports seven-day retention in the ~60% range. It recently raised external funding to support product and personalization efforts. Led by CEO Sam Mandel, Poncho delivers personalized weather forecasts via email, text message, apps, notifications, and bot interactions on Facebook Messenger and Slack. Forecasts are tailored to user routines and based on a quick survey of wake-up time, morning commute, and allergy and hair concerns. The company closed a $2M seed funding round to support its growth. It intends to use the funds to continue building its chatbot interface and to deepen its data science and artificial intelligence infrastructure. The product roadmap emphasizes making the user experience more conversational and learning-driven.

Total raised

$4M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Seed

Latest activity

Aug 2017