UK- and Poland-based firm Embargo, which provides a CRM and digital loyalty platform for hospitality businesses, has raised $3.5 million, bringing its total funding to approximately $4.7 million, as Vestbee was told.
- Founded in 2017 by Fryderyk Szydlowski and Tsewang Wangkang, Embargo is a CRM platform and digital loyalty wallet designed for the hospitality industry.
- The firm develops tools that allow restaurants, coffee shops, and bars to capture customer data, automate marketing, and improve customer retention. Embargo is currently used by nearly 3,000 venues with a strong footprint in the UK, Poland, and Western Europe, and has processed more than 13 million transactions and digital stamps.
- Its main products are the Embargo Portal CRM, which provides analytics, reporting, and marketing tools, and the Embargo Wallet, a digital loyalty and ordering app for in-store, pickup, and delivery transactions.
- The platform works by tracking customer interactions and purchases across all sales channels, turning them into actionable insights. Businesses can use the system to launch branded digital loyalty cards, analyze customer behavior, run automated marketing campaigns, and integrate directly with POS and delivery platforms.
- Customers interact with the Embargo Wallet as a loyalty card, an ordering system, and a tipping tool, while businesses gain real-time analytics to drive repeat visits, increase basket size, and grow overall revenue.
- In 2024, the company raised $850,000 from Opoka TFIR and business angels to improve its product and grow its sales team in the UK and Poland. Then, in May 2025, it received a £350,000 UK Smart Grant.
Details of the deal
- The fresh round saw support from several business angels, including Paul Statham, Christo Georgiev, Hampton Finance, Stephen Zinser, Carl Christian Reiner, Oh Polly, and Mike Branney.
- Embargo will utilize the $3.5 million funding to enhance its AI and machine learning capabilities for personalized marketing and customer retention, as well as boost B2B sales and marketing efforts in existing markets. The investment will help accelerate growth while maintaining a sustainable, long-term business model.
"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," claims Frederick Szydlowski, co-founder of Embargo.
