Embargo, a London-based hospitality tech scaleup, has raised €3 million from prominent investors in the UK, the United States and Europe. The round includes Paul Statham (founder of Condeco), Christo Georgiev (founder of myPOS), Hampton Finance (a food industry-focused fund 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 provides a plug-and-play digital loyalty wallet, CRM and ordering platform designed for coffee shops, restaurants and bakeries. Its platform includes the Embargo Portal CRM with analytics, reporting, sales and marketing tools, alongside the Embargo Wallet, Embargo Web Ordering and Embargo Tipping. The company’s goal is to give hospitality SMEs access to tools normally reserved for global enterprises.
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 is currently used by nearly 3,000 venues, with strong coverage in the UK, Poland and Western Europe. It has processed more than 13 million transactions and digital stamps, and has tripled its revenue since mid-2023 while keeping the same team size.
Oliver Chantler, director at Hampton Finance, stated: “We know how hard it is for SMEs to capture and analyse customer data effectively. Embargo’s plug-and-play CRM platform gives SMEs sophisticated but easy-to-use tools, which have proven to drive repeat revenue for thousands of merchants. Embargo is closing a critical information gap in the food-and-hospitality sector, and we are excited to be part of its journey.”
As global hospitality brands invest heavily in loyalty solutions such as McDonald’s, Starbucks, KFC and Joe & The Juice, demand for affordable and effective platforms for independent operators and small chains is rising. This segment represents around 75 percent of all hospitality businesses.
The new funding will support further development of Embargo’s AI and machine learning engine, which drives personalised marketing and retention strategies. It will also boost the company’s B2B sales and marketing efforts, with an initial focus on current markets before expanding internationally next year. This follows recent partnership agreements with US-based payment and POS providers Square and Lightspeed.
Tsewang Wangkang, co-founder of Embargo, said: “For the first time, we have the budget to fully leverage our product-market fit and significantly accelerate sales and marketing. We aim to more than double our growth year over year while maintaining a healthy business model and avoiding short-term artificial spikes that don’t deliver long-term value. It’s all about where we will be in three, five, ten years – not next quarter. If you optimise towards short-term growth at any cost, you start focusing on vanity metrics.”
Paul Statham, founder of Condeco, commented: “Having built and exited a $100m+ ARR software platform myself, I look for founders who have what it takes to scale a startup. Successful startups don’t always need groundbreaking technologies – much more often, they are best-in-class solutions with outstanding execution. Embargo is solving a growing need for SMEs, which require support more than ever. What the team have achieved so far gives them a tremendous base for scaling globally.”
Embargo currently operates in two countries and has a presence in more than ten. The company plans to further expand its international footprint over the next 24 months.
Read the orginal article: https://www.eu-startups.com/2025/08/london-based-embargo-raises-e3-million-to-supercharge-its-loyalty-and-crm-platform-for-hospitality-smes/
