Retro gaming arcade and cocktail bar chain NQ64 has secured £2.5m, or 25m games of Space Invaders, to roll out in more UK cities.
Founded in 2019 by Andy Haygarth and Matt Robson, NQ64 is already backed by Imbiba. Its first themed venue was in Manchester’s Northern Quarter and it has already expanded to a second Manchester site on Peter Street, and seven other UK cities including Liverpool and Newcastle.
The new funding, from alternative lender ThinCats, which has its Northern HQ in Manchester, will accelerate expansion plans by NQ64, which is already backed by Imbiba, to Leeds, Birmingham, Bristol, Bath, Nottingham, Reading, Belfast, Sheffield, Aberdeen and Brighton, as well as further London sites following its successful opening in Soho earlier this year.
Haygarth said: “With the backing of Imbiba and our new partnership with ThinCats, we are looking forward to bringing our neon splattered drinking dens to a host of new guests. We generally now invest between £500,000 and £1m into the build of a new site.”
The concept combines arcade games and classic consoles, with a drinks list of specially selected craft beer, themed cocktails and soda.
NQ64 is now on the hunt for new venues of between 4,000 and 10,000 square foot. The concept can trade in ground, basement or first floor locations and says it will pay an ‘appropriate premium’ for existing late-licensed sites in prime locations.
