Hospitality technology startup Ambl closes £1m pre-seed funding raise
Ambl – a platform matching diners and drinkers with hospitality venue availability - has closed a £1 million funding raise and officially launched.
Founded in 2021, the London-based startup’s app geographically matches people looking for an immediately available venue, with real-time capacity within a 30-minute time window.
The investment has come from hospitality industry heavyweights including Paul McKenna, Jon Spiteri and serial entrepreneur Mark Gordon. It is Ambl’s fourth pre-seed funding round with total investment to date sitting at £2.3 million.
Aaron Solomon, CEO and Co-Founder at Ambl, comments: “Ambl’s USP is in its ability to connect spontaneous moments of dining and drinking out with brilliant venues who have real-time availability.”
“In just one click, venues can turn off or turn on the platform to show seats are currently available: combatting last minute cancellations, detrimental no shows or unexpected lulls in bookings.”
“The best bit, turning on the autoresponder does all the hard work for the venue - adding bookings to calendars and responding promptly to customers.”
He adds: “We see Ambl as being a helping hand for venues, and one that they can use as and when they want to help iron out booking uncertainty.”
“As we move into a crucial and busy Christmas season, where high value group bookings are more commonplace, we hope Ambl can be the necessary gift that to alleviate some of the venues’ costly pain points surrounding bookings, and also provide customers with a tool to find somewhere to eat or drink at a moment’s notice.”
Phase one of the launch will see 100 restaurants located in the Square Mile area of London such as Hawksmoor, Bob Bob Ricard, Mber, London Cocktail Club and The Alchemist using the platform for the first time, following a process of onboarding and training.
Over the coming months, Ambl will use insights from this initial batch of restaurants to iron out any technical issues and build upon its offering, before moving onto phase two.
Ambl’s mid to long-term ambition is to expand to international markets, taking the UK model and scaling it.
The recently secured £1 million funding will be invested into supporting its market launch, its marketing activity and help build out schemes that reward venue partners.
Jon Spiteri, of Sessions Art Club, and Ambl investor, comments: “As the sector moves into an incredibly busy, and financially important, final quarter of the year, any tool we can use to help time-poor venues is essential.”
“That’s where I see the value of Ambl - as a way to tackle two birds with one stone: the first being empty tables that plague almost all venues for a host of reasons; and two, the customer needing a trusted table in a moments’ notice.”
“It’s exciting to be a part of Ambl’s journey and I think, particularly as we move into a challenging 2023, it can be part of the tech remedy the sector needs to help bolster growth.”
Businesses using the platform will be charged £1 per person on a booking, with no monthly subscription and no additional fees being passed to the diners.
They can use it to communicate their latest deals and news with those consumers who choose to favourite them within the app.
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