Cyberia, London was an

internet cafe The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

founded in London in September 1994, which provided desktop computers with full

internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

access in a café environment. Situated at 39 Whitfield Street in

Fitzrovia Fitzrovia () is a district of central London, England, near the West End. The eastern part of area is in the London Borough of Camden, and the western in the City of Westminster. It has its roots in the Manor of Tottenham Court, and was urban ...

, the cafe was founded by

Eva Pascoe Eva Pascoe (born 1964) is a Polish-born internet entrepreneur and consultant residing in London who co-founded Britain's first internet cafe, Cyberia. She has previously written for ''The Independent'' newspaper and is a commentator on techno ...

David Rowe David or Dave Rowe may refer to: Academics * David C. Rowe (1949–2003), American psychologist * David E. Rowe (born 1950), American mathematician and historian Business and technology * David Rowe (entrepreneur) (born 1958), British entrepreneu ...

Keith Teare Keith Teare (born 27 August 1954, in Scarborough, North Riding of Yorkshire) is an English-American technology entrepreneur. Career Keith Teare has founded or co-founded several IT companies since the early 1980s. He is credited with being par ...

and Gené Teare, and the space served as an early hub for those with an interest in computing and the Net. Cyberia was the first

in the UK, and would soon expand into a franchise, both across the UK and worldwide.WIRED 2.04: All About Eva

Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fra ...

(April 1996). Cyberia was intended to be a women only venture, providing a space in which women could learn and play with new technologies in their own space. "To be honest, I thought that all the boy nerds would be hooked up at home and they wouldn't need us. But we had this incredibly fast connection, and they couldn't wait to use our equipment. Actually we really liked that." After its launch, Cyberia soon became popular and settled down to a comfortable half and half, but it did host a weekly women's night to train in digital skills. Cyberia London basement spaces were also a thriving hub of activity.

Ivan Pope Ivan Pope (born 1961) is a British people, British technologist, involved in a number of early internet developments in the UK and across the world, including coining the term ''cybercafe'' at London's Institute of Contemporary Arts. He was a fo ...

's Webmedia, one of the first web design and build companies, was the first tenant occupying part of the basement. Subcyberia, home to the post-rave Sunday morning breakfast club and the cafe's gamer space, was frequented with gamers 24/7 such as

Richard Bartle Richard Allan Bartle FBCS FRSA (born 10 January 1960) is a British writer, professor and game researcher in the massively multiplayer online game industry. He co-created ''MUD1'' (the first MUD) in 1978, and is the author of the 2003 book ''Desi ...

. Transcyberia, a "semi-nerd lab room creative technology centre" for software developers and designers, played host to a range of organisations including

Michael Gurstein Michael Gurstein (October 2, 1944 – October 8, 2017) was a Canadian best known for his work in the development and definition of community informatics as the area of research and practice concerned with enabling and empowering communities throug ...

's Community Informatics Research Network. It would see music artists passing through -

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinve ...

held a press event at the venue, whilst

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

would perform a link-up through ''Bowienet''. Cyberia London 1996

Cyberia enjoyed superfast internet access as a result of their partnership with the

Easynet Easynet was a managed services provider and delivered integrated networks, hosting and unified communications services to organisations globally. The company was later renamed Easynet Global Services, and a sister company, Easynet Connect, was fo ...

ISP An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise private ...

founded by Rowe and Teare, who operated from the same building as the cafe. In turn Cyberia marketed Easynet products and services and were often the first port of call for Easynet customers looking for support for their new systems. Other early investors in Cyberia included

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

and

Maurice Saatchi Maurice Nathan Saatchi, Baron Saatchi ( ar, موريس ساعتجي ; born 21 June 1946) is a British-Iraqi businessman, and with his brother, Charles, co-founder of the advertising agencies Saatchi & Saatchi and M&C Saatchi. Early life Mauric ...

Growth

Around a dozen branches, some of which were franchises, were opened both in the UK and abroad, including Manchester, Edinburgh, Dublin, Rotterdam, Bangkok, Manilla, Tokyo and Paris. By 1996, some 200 cybercafes had opened around the world, emulating the success of Cyberia.Watch This Cyberspace

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

. (19 May 1996). Kenan Malik. Pascoe left the business in 1998 to pursue new projects, and the Cyberia chain was sold to

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

n investors, who re-launched as the ''Be The Reds''

internet gaming An online game is a video game that is either partially or primarily played through the Internet or any other computer network available. Online games are ubiquitous on modern gaming platforms, including PCs, consoles and mobile devices, and s ...

cafe in 2001.

References

External links

Archived Website
at

Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit based in San Francisco, California. Created in 1996 and launched to the public in 2001, it allows the user to go "back in time" and see ...

{{coords, 51.5201, -0.1350, display=title Coffeehouses and cafés in London Internet cafés Defunct tourist attractions in London History of the London Borough of Camden Fitzrovia 1994 establishments in the United Kingdom 1994 establishments in England 1994 in computing