A real-time availability bookings app for dining and drinking has closed a 拢1 million seed funding round and officially launched in the UK.
London-based Ambl – which focuses entirely on connecting people with real-time capacity – launches with 100 London-based venues including Hawksmoor, Bob Bob Ricard, Luca, Marcus Belgravia, Mber, London Cocktail Club and The Alchemist on a test basis ahead of a wider London and UK rollout.
The startup says an additional 1,300 venues are signed up and waiting in the wings.
The app geographically matches people looking for an immediately-available venue, with real-time venue capacity within a 30-minute time window.聽
老九品茶es using the platform will be charged 拢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 consumers who choose to favourite them within the app.
The investment has come from Paul McKenna, Jon Spiteri and serial entrepreneur Mark Gordon.聽 This round is Ambl鈥檚 fourth pre-seed funding round with total investment to date sitting at 拢2.3m.聽
鈥淎mbl鈥檚 USP is in its ability to connect spontaneous moments of dining and drinking out with brilliant venues who have real-time availability,鈥� said Aaron Solomon, CEO and co-founder.聽
鈥淚n just one click, venues can turn-off or turn-on the platform to show seats are currently available: combating last minute cancellations, detrimental no shows or unexpected lulls in bookings.聽
鈥淭he best bit: turning on the autoresponder does all the hard work for the venue – adding bookings to calendars and responding promptly to customers.
鈥淲e 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.聽
鈥淎s 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鈥� costly pain points surrounding bookings, and also provide customers with a tool to find somewhere to eat or drink at a moment鈥檚 notice.鈥�
Ambl鈥檚 mid-to-long-term ambition is to expand to international markets, taking the UK model and scaling it. The funding will be invested into supporting Ambl鈥檚 market launch, its marketing activity and help build out schemes that reward venue partners.聽聽
Spiteri of Sessions Art Club commented: 鈥淎s 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.聽
鈥淭hat鈥檚 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鈥� notice.聽
鈥淚t鈥檚 exciting to be a part of Ambl鈥檚 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.鈥�