Embargo, a hospitality CRM app based in London, has raised $3.5 million to expand across Europe. This funding came from prominent angel investors eager to scale the AI-driven CRM and loyalty platform continent-wide.
The round’s investors include Paul Statham (founder of Condeco), Christo Georgiev (founder of myPOS), Hampton Finance (the Chantler family fund behind Meadow Foods), Mike Branney (founder of Oh Polly), Stephen Zinser, and Carl Christian Reiner.
Founded in 2018 by Frederick Szydlowski and Tsewang Wangkang, Embargo provides a platform for small and medium-sized hospitality businesses (SMEs), helping them enhance customer retention, repeat sales, and digital engagement through loyalty programs and CRM tools previously available only to large restaurant chains.
“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,” said co-founder Frederick Szydlowski. “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.”
The European market is fragmented, with SMEs making up about three-quarters of hospitality businesses, and these tools have been less accessible compared to the US.
Embargo aims to close this gap, offering what Hampton Finance investor Oliver Chantler described as a “sophisticated but easy to use” platform.
“Embargo is closing a critical information gap in the food and hospitality sector, and we are excited to be part of its journey,” said Chantler.
The fresh capital will help Embargo further develop its AI and machine learning engine for personalized marketing and retention strategies. The company also plans to boost B2B sales and marketing in existing markets before expanding to new regions in 2026. Recent integrations with US-based payment and POS providers like Square and Lightspeed indicate a broader global strategy.
“For the first time, we have the budget to fully leverage our product-market fit and significantly accelerate sales and marketing,” said co-founder Tsewang Wangkang. “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.”