Eva Pascoe: Making the Internet cool in London

Tech Business History

Eva Pascoe came to London from her native Poland to study human-computer interaction and psychology. In 1994, she founded Cyberia, possibly the world's first Internet cafe, which was described by Wired magazine as “the most fashionable cafe in '90s London”. Backed by Mick Jagger, and visited, unexpectedly, by Bill Gates, Cyberia became a hub for first-time users of the Internet, especially women, and a growing arts tech scene. In this podcast, Eva remembers those heady days, how Cyberia expanded to a dozen international branches before she sold the business, and how it was almost as hard to find a decent cup of coffee in London back then as it was to get Internet access.