Poncho

About Poncho

Poncho was a chatbot-centric weather service that delivered personalized forecasts with a distinct personality. The company was founded in 2013 by Kuan Huang, who was a hacker-in-residence at the incubator Betaworks at the time. The inspiration reportedly came from his mother, who would call him with daily weather updates during his college years.

The service initially launched with email and SMS notifications, presenting weather information through the persona of a hipster cat living in Brooklyn. This character-driven approach was a core part of its strategy to engage a younger, mobile-first audience. The platform expanded its reach by becoming one of the first bots available on Facebook Messenger at the F8 conference in 2016 and later launched on other platforms like Kik, Viber, and Slack. Poncho's primary offering was a free, personalized weather forecast that also included other light content such as horoscopes or fun facts to become part of a user's daily morning routine. The company's growth was driven by word-of-mouth, a focus on user retention, and positive press.

The business secured over $4.4 million in funding from investors including Lerer Hippeau Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Betaworks Ventures. Despite its initial popularity and funding, the company faced challenges in sustaining its growth. In May 2018, Poncho was acquired by the beverage company Dirty Lemon. The acquisition was primarily for Poncho's team and its text message-based user interaction infrastructure, as Dirty Lemon's business model relied heavily on SMS-based sales. Following the acquisition, the Poncho weather service was shut down. The entire Poncho team was integrated into Dirty Lemon, and Poncho's CEO, Sam Mandel, transitioned to an advisory role at the acquiring company.