Embargo

What Embargo does

Embargo is a London-headquartered hospitality technology company that operates a digital loyalty, CRM and ordering platform aimed at small and medium-sized venues such as coffee shops, restaurants, bakeries and delis. The platform comprises three primary products: the Embargo Wallet (a white-label digital loyalty card hosted on the UK's highest-rated loyalty app, with a 4.9 AppStore rating), the Embargo Portal CRM (a data and marketing CRM with 40+ live reports and six direct marketing tools), and a Delivery & Pickup Ordering module integrated with POS systems and with Deliveroo and UberEats. An NFC-enabled Embargo Device placed near the till allows customers to tap to collect loyalty stamps, and an add-on Staff Tipping & TRONC module handles cashless tipping with National Insurance–compliant tronc distribution. The platform reports 3,500+ venue installs and 14M+ app transactions processed. The company is registered as Embargo Lifestyle Limited in England & Wales (company number 10261303) and is co-founded by Fryderyk Szydlowski (CMO) and Tsewang Wangkang, with Reza Samiei as CTO.

Name

Embargo

Legal name

Embargo Lifestyle Limited

Website

https://www.embargoapp.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Embargo is a London-based SaaS company that provides a digital loyalty, CRM and ordering platform to 3,500+ hospitality SMEs (coffee shops, restaurants, bakeries), with integrated delivery, tipping and POS workflows.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Hospitality Loyalty & CRM Software

akta.pro primary industry

Loyalty Technology Platforms (LMS, Wallets, APIs) (THABAKAH)

Keywords

• Hospitality loyalty software
• Restaurant CRM platform
• Digital loyalty wallet
• Delivery ordering integration
• Cashless tipping solutions

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. SaaS Subscription: Monthly rolling subscription plans for access to the Embargo Portal CRM and Embargo Wallet platform. Starting from £1 per day per site.
2. Delivery Commission: Venue receives delivery, click & collect and catering ordering through the loyalty card with access to nationwide delivery fleets. Commission rates stated as up to 3x lower than typical delivery platforms.
3. Tipping & Tronc Management: Staff tipping solution with Tronc system management. Generates revenue through service charge processing and tip distribution services.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Embargo sells a SaaS-based digital loyalty, CRM and ordering platform for hospitality SMEs (coffee shops, restaurants, bakeries). The platform combines a white-label consumer loyalty wallet (Embargo Wallet), an AI-driven business CRM (Embargo Portal CRM) with 40+ live reports and 6 marketing tools, integrated delivery and pickup ordering via major UK fleets, and a cashless tipping/TRONC solution. Go-live takes 2-3 days with no IT training required, and venues subscribe via monthly rolling plans starting from £1 per day per site.

Product overview

Embargo is a unified loyalty, CRM, and ordering platform for hospitality SMEs. The platform consists of the Embargo App (consumer-facing loyalty wallet for stamp collection and redemption), Embargo Wallet (white-label digital loyalty cards for venues), Embargo Portal CRM (business dashboard for customer data management, 6 marketing tools, analytics, and staff tipping), and Delivery & Pickup Ordering (integrated D2C ordering via loyalty cards). The products share a centralized CRM database and communicate through the Embargo ecosystem, enabling venues to capture customer data across all sales channels (in-store, delivery, click&collect) and engage them through targeted marketing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Embargo Wallet: UK's no.1 loyalty wallet - digital wallet for paperless loyalty cards of leading hospitality brands, with 4.9 AppStore rating.
• Embargo Portal CRM

Products and services

• Embargo Wallet White-label digital loyalty card launched on the Embargo Wallet app that lets hospitality venues capture customer data and drive repeat sales across in-store, delivery and pickup channels. Customers collect stamps, redeem rewards and can order delivery and pickup from participating venues.
• Embargo Portal CRM Data and marketing CRM platform for hospitality businesses that captures customer, transactional and behavioral data across all sales channels, provides 40+ live reports and analytics, 6 direct communication and marketing tools, and integrated staff tipping/TRONC management.
• Staff Tipping & TRONC Cashless tipping solution with National Insurance savings and a TRONC system for compliant tip distribution, letting customers tip via the loyalty app or dedicated tipping devices while venues manage payouts transparently.
• Delivery & Pickup Ordering Direct-to-consumer delivery, click & collect and catering ordering through the loyalty card, integrated with the UK's biggest food delivery fleets and the venue's POS at commission rates stated as up to 3x lower than typical delivery platforms.
• Embargo Device Small NFC-enabled hardware device placed near the till that lets customers collect loyalty stamps by tapping their phone or showing a QR code, requiring no charging and no external connectivity.

Quantifiable outcome

• 200% revenue increase over two years
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

AI capability4 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• DeliveroocoreTechnology or IntegrationDelivery platform integrated with Embargo's POS integration system. Orders from Deliveroo flow directly into the venue's POS, streamlining operations and data analytics.
• UberEatscoreTechnology or IntegrationDelivery platform integrated with Embargo's AI-driven integration platform. Orders from UberEats are delivered directly into POS, KDS devices or tablets.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Loopy Loyalty: Digital stamp card loyalty platform for small businesses. Closely comparable to Embargo's stamp-based, app-driven loyalty mechanic and SMB target market.
• Stamp Me: Digital loyalty stamp card platform that lets SMBs run paperless stamp programs via a mobile app. Closely mirrors Embargo Wallet's stamp-based loyalty mechanic, with similar SMB/hospitality positioning.
• Thanx: Restaurant guest engagement and loyalty platform that captures guest data and runs marketing campaigns. Closely comparable to Embargo Portal CRM's data capture and direct marketing capabilities for hospitality venues.
• Paytronix: Restaurant guest engagement platform combining loyalty, online ordering, and gift card management. Directly comparable across loyalty, CRM, and D2C ordering modules that Embargo offers.
• Punchh: Restaurant chain loyalty and CRM platform serving multi-unit and enterprise hospitality brands. Directly comparable to Embargo's loyalty/CRM proposition, though focused on larger chains rather than hospitality SMEs.
• Antavo: Enterprise loyalty cloud platform serving retail and hospitality brands with APIs and white-label programs. Comparable as a SaaS loyalty technology platform with API-driven, multi-brand capabilities.
• White Label Loyalty: White-label loyalty platform provider for brands across verticals including hospitality. Comparable as a loyalty technology platform offering branded cards, wallets, and APIs — same functional footprint as Embargo.

Broad incumbents

• Toast: Dominant restaurant POS platform that bundles loyalty, online ordering, and marketing tools as part of a broader restaurant operating system. Overlaps with Embargo across loyalty and ordering but operates a much wider stack.
• Square Loyalty (Block): Built-in loyalty module inside Square's SMB POS and payments ecosystem. Serves the same hospitality SME target with a similar price point but as part of a much broader commerce platform.
• Lightspeed Restaurant: Restaurant POS and commerce platform with built-in loyalty and ordering modules. Comparable overlap with Embargo's loyalty and CRM value proposition, though delivered as part of a wider POS suite.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/embargoapp
• Facebookfacebook.com/EmbargoApp
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/embargo-lifestyle-limited

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds6 records

Investors3 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Embargo