What is Ambl?
Ambl is a London-based real-time hospitality and venue booking platform created by co-founders Jed Hackling and Aaron Solomon, alongside key investor Mark Gordon. Ambl connects spontaneous diners and night-out seekers with real-time, last-minute table availability at top bars, restaurants, and venues across major metropolitan markets.
After receiving early conceptual wireframes from a startup accelerator, the founding team engaged Techne HQ in February 2022 to turn the concept into a commercial, high-throughput software ecosystem. From day one, Jed Hackling, Aaron Solomon, and Mark Gordon were transparent about their long-term growth plan: once Ambl raised institutional capital, they intended to recruit an internal engineering team.
Techne HQ acted as Ambl's primary technical engineering team from 2022 through 2024, executing an intensive 8-week re-architecture sprint, authoring comprehensive PRDs, and engineering the complete native mobile, backend, and admin portal architecture. When Ambl onboarded its internal developers in 2024, Techne HQ executed a clean technical handover while remaining onboard as an ongoing co-engineering partner to handle code merging, code reviews, and workload overflow.
Building High-Concurrency Architecture Designed for Dual-Team Collaboration
Engineering a real-time booking engine requires sub-second data syncing between venue management portals and thousands of mobile users. To build a platform that could scale globally and transition smoothly to an in-house team, Techne HQ, Jed Hackling, Aaron Solomon, and Mark Gordon focused on three core objectives:
Filling Design Gaps & Optimizing Backend Logic: Executing an 8-week re-architecture sprint to expand incomplete accelerator wireframes, adding missing UX screens, and conducting API feasibility studies to ensure sub-second table booking logic.
Maintaining Strict Git Hygiene for Future Handover: Architecting the entire codebase in a modular "Lego block" structure on GitHub, featuring meticulous commit histories, clear branch strategies, and complete PRD documentation.
Establishing a Long-Term Hybrid Engineering Model: Designing a handover protocol that allowed Ambl's incoming internal team to adopt the primary codebase while Techne HQ maintained oversight for code merging and overflow capacity.
Core Architecture Build & Continuous Co-Engineering Support
01 · 8-Week System Re-Architecture, API Feasibility & PRD Authoring
Techne HQ audited the initial accelerator deliverables and executed an intensive 8-week re-architecture sprint. We authored detailed Product Requirements Documents (PRDs) defining venue availability algorithms, reservation locks, and multi-tenant portal management before writing production code.
02 · Dual Native Mobile Engineering (Swift & Kotlin)
We engineered Ambl’s user-facing mobile apps natively using Swift for iOS and Kotlin for Android. Native mobile performance ensured sub-second map rendering, real-time venue search, location-based notifications, and instant payment validation during peak dining hours.
03 · High-Concurrency Java Backend & Venue Web Dashboards
Techne HQ built a high-throughput backend using Java hosted on AWS Cloud Infrastructure with relational data management on Amazon RDS (MySQL). We engineered custom cloud web portals for venue managers and master administrators to track real-time bookings, table turnover, and user analytics.
04 · Seamless Technical Handover & Ongoing Overflow Engineering
When Ambl onboarded its internal engineering team in 2024, Techne HQ transferred repository access and technical documentation in a friction-free handover. Techne HQ remained actively engaged to manage code merging, perform architectural code reviews, and handle overflow workloads alongside Ambl's internal developers.
8-Week Intensive System Re-Architecture & Complete UX/UI Screen Expansion
High-Concurrency Venue Booking Engine Built for Real-Time Hospitality Availability
Modular "Lego Block" Software Architecture Engineered with Clean GitHub Commit History
Successful In-House Technical Handover Executed in 2024 to Ambl's Internal Engineering Team
Active Hybrid Engineering Partner Managing Code Merging, Code Reviews, and Workload Overflow Support
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VALUATION AS OF 2023
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My co-founder and I have been working with Gordon and the Techne team for the best part of 2 years. As a business relying solely on our tech to propel our business, we needed support, understanding, and quality builds. Having the Techne team on board has been instrumental. They feel like part of our own team, and we look forward to continuing our collaboration with them.
Aaron Solomon
CEO of Ambl
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FAQ
Got specific questions?
How does Techne HQ support early-stage startups planning to recruit an internal engineering team later?
We build with long-term handover in mind from day one. By maintaining clean GitHub commit histories, modular "Lego block" code structures, and detailed PRD documentation, incoming CTOs and internal developers can adopt the codebase effortlessly without inheriting technical debt.
What was Techne HQ's role after handing over Ambl's primary codebase in 2024?
Techne HQ transitioned into a hybrid co-engineering partner. We assisted Ambl's internal team with code merging, architectural reviews, and handling engineering overflow for complex feature launches while remaining on call for technical support.
Why was native Swift and Kotlin chosen for Ambl's booking app?
Native mobile engineering guaranteed sub-second map loading, instant reservation holds, and fluid UI performance during high-concurrency peak hours when thousands of users search for venue availability simultaneously.
How quickly can Techne HQ transform accelerator wireframes into an enterprise-ready app?
Depending on scope and API complexity, Techne HQ typically executes intensive 6 to 8-week re-architecture sprints (such as the 8-week sprint completed for Ambl) to expand incomplete wireframes into production UX/UI, author PRDs, build administrative portals, and deploy live code.