UK hospitality tech scaleup Embargo raises £2.6m

UK hospitality tech business Embargo has raised $3.5 million to accelerate its growth across Europe and beyond.

The investment round included participation from prominent investors in the UK, the United States, and Europe, including Paul Statham (founder of Condeco), Christo Georgiev (founder of myPOS), the food industry-focused fund Hampton Finance (created by the Chantler family, founders of Meadow Foods), Stephen Zinser, Carl Christian Reiner, as well as Oh Polly and its founder Mike Branney.

Founded by Frederick Szydlowski and Tsewang Wangkang, Embargo is the UK’s leading CRM, loyalty and ordering platform. It helps coffee shops, restaurants and bakeries boost customer retention and digital sales across every revenue channel (in-store, click & collect, and delivery).

Embargo is currently used by nearly 3,000 venues, with a strong footprint in the UK, Poland and Western Europe. It has processed more than 13 million transactions and digital stamps.

Frederick Szydlowski, co-founder of Embargo, commented: “Our mission is to level the playing field for hospitality SMEs keen to grow their revenues and scale – we do that by giving them access to the kind of tools typically reserved for global enterprises. This investment is not just a vote of confidence in our product and growth to date, but also in the scale of the opportunity ahead. With strong foundations, a growing international footprint, and a clear product roadmap, we’re perfectly positioned to become the go-to platform for hospitality businesses worldwide.”

Embargo has seen rapid growth in recent years, with revenue almost tripling since mid-2023 despite its team remaining the same size. Their total app transactions and digital stamps nearly doubled in the last 12 months.

As global hospitality brands invest heavily in loyalty solutions to drive sales and retention – including the likes of McDonald’s, Starbucks, KFC, and Joe & The Juice – demand is rising for accessible, effective technology for independent operators and smaller chains. Embargo is addressing this need, serving the sector’s SMEs (which account for approximately 75% of all hospitality businesses) with a user-friendly, data-driven platform.