Jerome Touze
About
Jerome Touze is from Paris, Île-de-France, France. In Jerome's previous role as a Chief Revenue Officer at rain South Africa, Jerome worked in Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa until Feb 2026. Prior to joining rain South Africa, Jerome was a Strategic Advisor at AirHelp and held the position of Strategic Advisor at Cape Town Area, South Africa. Prior to that, Jerome was a Chief Operating Officer at Ozow, based in Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa from Jul 2020 to Jun 2022. Jerome started working as Chairman - YPO Cape Town at YPO in Cape Town Area, South Africa in Jul 2019. From May 2014 to Jul 2020, Jerome was Member of the Board at YPO - Young Presidents' Organization, based in Cape Town. Prior to that, Jerome was a Managing Director at Travelstart, based in Cape Town Area, South Africa from Mar 2018 to Jun 2020. Jerome started working as Chief Operating Officer at WAYN (earn-out period) at lastminute.com group in Cape Town Area, South Africa in Sep 2016.
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Jerome Touze's past jobs
Steering the performance of our core revenue-driving channels and aligning them for optimal growth and profitability. Shaping our digital advertising ecosystem, guiding initiatives from brand awareness to purchase and retention, and ensuring they are integrated and data-driven. Working in concert with the management team, I champion strategic initiatives that reinforce rain’s standing in the market and drive sustainable revenue outcomes
Claim Compass was a 500 Startups–backed platform that enabled air passengers to claim up to €600 for delayed, cancelled, or overbooked flights, operating from European headquarters with a Silicon Valley satellite; it was recently acquired by Berlin‑based AirHelp, a global leader in passenger rights. I advised the founders on operational best practices and strategic direction.
As COO, I spearheaded Ozow’s $50 m Series B at a $100 m post‑money valuation—one of Africa’s largest fintech raises—while reshaping the organisation for scale through an OKR‑driven operating model, deepening the leadership bench, and positioning Ozow’s instant‑payment platform, which cuts EFT processing from minutes to seconds, for hyper‑growth.
Chairman of the Young President Organisation - Cape Town Chapter. YPO is a global network of young chief executives with approximately 27,000 members in more than 130 countries
* Joined YPO in 2014 and led the Education and Membership portfolios
Initially appointed as group CMO, I was promoted to Managing Director where I took responsibility for all of Travelstart's core business and operational channels in our Sub-Saharan territories. Travelstart group is a leading Online Travel Agency in Africa and the Middle East with over 800 employees and offering flights, hotel bookings, car rental, vacation packages and other travel services. During my time as MD, I was very involved in the acquisition of Club Travel, a deal that completed in September 2019, further the approval by the Competition Commission.
Following the acquisition of WAYN.com by the lastminute.com group, I took on the role of COO of WAYN during the earn-out period. My focus was on driving commercial synergies between WAYN and the wider group, aligning our community and content capabilities with lastminute.com's broader travel ecosystem. One of my key contributions was the launch of the Content Hub, a strategic initiative that evolved into the group’s core Content Management System, streamlining the creation and distribution of travel content across multiple brands and markets. This period allowed me to gain hands-on experience integrating a startup into a larger corporate environment while delivering tangible value through product innovation and operational alignment.
I co-founded WAYN.com (Where Are You Now) in September 2002 and officially launched the platform in 2005, following my time at Accenture. With just $15,000 in seed capital, we bootstrapped the business and scaled it from 45,000 users in early 2005 to over 25 million members globally, making it the largest travel and lifestyle social community at the time. We grew the business with offices in the UK, US, Poland, and South Africa, built a direct ad sales team, and developed a robust offshoring model for tech development. I led fundraising efforts, resulting in a partial exit to DFJ Esprit and later a full acquisition by the lastminute.com group in 2016. Along the way, we attracted notable investors including Brent Hoberman (founder of lastminute.com) and Simon Guild (former CEO of MTV EMEA), who joined as Chairman. The journey gave me deep experience in building and scaling digital platforms, leading global teams, and driving monetization through advertising, partnerships, and strategic exits.
* Assisted Cape Town Tourism with their Digital Marketing Strategy. * Member of the Board of Directors
* Managed the rollout of CRM solutions in Microsoft Contact Centres across EMEA
* Consultant at Accenture in Telecommunications & High Tech * Built expertise in CRM solutions for BT & Microsoft * International base: London, Dublin, Madrid, Munich