Ahi Poké acquired by Poke House

Milan-based restaurant chain Poke House is to make its UK debut after acquiring London’s Ahi Poké group.

The deal means Ahi Poké, which launched in 2016 and has six restaurants, will continue to trade under the same name in the short term while Poke House expands under its own brand.

Poke House was founded in 2018 and runs 30 restaurants across Italy, Portugal and Spain, serving healthy customisable bowls of fish, chicken or vegetables.

It will open its first London restaurant in Notting Hill in June. The group is also targeting 13 additional locations in UK cities in locations such as shopping malls, outdoor kiosks and dark kitchens.

Poke House completed a €20m (£17m) funding round this month led by Eulero Capital, with the support of FG2 Capital and Milano Investment Partners, with the aim of opening 200 new sites across Europe.

Matteo Pichi (pictured), co-founder and chief executive of Poke House, said: “We realised early on that poke could be a product with great potential, but at the same time many other chains were starting to introduce it on their menus. That's why we decided to strongly differentiate our high-quality, fast-casual offer and invest heavily in technology.

“Our data-driven approach allowed us to scale at a much higher rate than a classic restaurant chain, and to adapt the business strategy in a very reactive and effective way. This has proven to be crucial, especially in such complicated and challenging times for the foodservice industry, and we are now looking forward to further expanding our reach in Europe and introducing our concept to new customers.”