Poncho Insurance: Venture Leader Fintech offering embedded weather insurance for travel and leisure

27.10.2025 09:00, Rita Longobardi

Meet Omar Jerrari, CEO of Poncho. The Fintech startup allows travel providers to offer automatic weather coverage at the point of sale. In November, Omar and the other nine Swiss National Fintech Team members will fly to London on a business development and investor roadshow.

Name: Omar Jerrari
Location: Zurich
Nationality: French and Moroccan
Graduated from: Ensimag Grenoble (Maths + Computer Science) and ISFA Lyon (Actuarial Science)
Job title: Founder & CEO
Number of employees: 3
Money raised: CHF 550k


Can you tell us who your product or solution helps, and how?
At Poncho, we help travel and leisure businesses eliminate the hesitancy and frustration caused by weather uncertainty. Our promise is simple: if the weather is bad, we automatically refund their customers for each affected day. There are no claims to file — we track the weather continuously and trigger refunds proactively. This way, customers feel confident booking in advance, gain peace of mind and remain satisfied in any weather.

What market are you addressing and what is the potential of your startup in that market?
We are targeting the European travel and leisure market, specifically segments that are highly dependent on weather—such as cruising, beach holidays, golfing, skiing, and diving. This represents a multi-billion-euro market where weather uncertainty has a direct impact on customer satisfaction, booking confidence, and revenue potential for operators.

How and where did you come up with the idea for your startup?
I came up with the idea in December 2021 while planning a ski weekend with friends in Zermatt. As I was booking, I asked myself: "What if we can’t ski at all because of the weather?" At the time, my job was to develop financial products that protect insurance companies against natural catastrophes. That experience inspired me to explore creating something similar for travelers — a simple, automated way to protect people against bad weather when booking their trips and activities.
 
What do you expect from the Venture Leaders roadshow, and how do you think it will help you achieve your vision?
It is a great opportunity to connect with investors ahead of our next fundraising round, and to exchange with peers and experts in the fintech ecosystem. It’s a chance to share new ideas, challenge our current strategy, and ultimately strengthen our path toward achieving our vision.

What are your team’s key achievements to date?
One of our key achievements has been securing an insurance company to carry the risk and support our growth across Europe. This was a critical and often challenging step to bring our product to market, as it required convincing a large corporate partner not only of the potential of a new insurance product but also of our team’s capabilities and financial strength.

Is there a key principle or value that guides you as you build your company?
A key principle for me is discipline—sticking to the goals and approach we’ve defined together as a team. It’s often tempting to divert from the plan in the heat of action, but those are rarely the best conditions for decision-making. When new situations arise, we gather the necessary information and discuss them at our next meeting, ensuring the team stays aligned and focused on the plan.

What is the most important lesson you have learned as a founder?
Things will never go as planned. Expecting this helps build the resilience needed to keep pushing toward the goal, while also staying flexible enough to explore different approaches along the way.

What is your favorite productivity hack or tool and why?
My main hack is staying 100% focused on one task at a time. I do this by disabling all notifications and even using a Chrome extension to hide my LinkedIn feed, so I can work without distractions.

What was your dream job when you were a child?
When I was a child, I dreamed of becoming an architect because I loved designing and building things. Although I didn’t pursue that path, I found the same excitement in building a startup, where I still get to create and bring ideas to life.