European Sleeper looks confidently to the future, backed by a community of investors and the continued growth and expansion of their services.
European Sleeper has announced that its latest sharefunding round has been fully funded, a milestone that proves the level of investor confidence in the company's mission. They are proud to announce that European Sleeper now has almost 4200 investors, an impressive growth that supports their ambitions to revolutionize night train transport.
The shareholders are warmly welcomed, and European Sleeper expresses their gratitude for the support that has made this expansion possible. To celebrate this achievement and the one year anniversary of the European Sleeper night trains, the company is offering an exclusive 10% discount for bookings made before July 1, 2024, for travel between September 1 and November 30, 2024. These bookings can be made via a special link shared in the update.
Now that the sharefunding round has been completed, investors who have invested €1000, €12.500 or €25.000 or more will soon receive a personal email with their unique investor discount. This gesture is intended to underscore the company's appreciation for their crucial support.
Reflecting on their first year of operations, European Sleeper has achieved impressive performance. The launch of the services was successful, with many positive reactions from both the press and passengers. The feedback received has contributed to continuous improvements. Since its inception, European Sleeper has operated more than 260 trains and transported more than 55.000 passengers across Europe. A special highlight was the expansion to Dresden and Prague on March 25.
In 2023, the company achieved over €4 million in ticket sales, mainly through their own website, bringing the total to over €8 million to date. At the end of 2023, the connection with external ticket platforms was established, including the Belgian national railways SNCB and Omio. In May 2024, a partnership was also started with the Czech national railway company Česke Drahy and the ticketing platform Trainline.
The launch events, especially the one in Prague on March 26, 2024, generated a lot of free publicity and support from press and public partners. The social media followers grew significantly, from 20k to 48k followers, while the number of newsletter subscribers increased from 45k to 69k. Thanks to the support of the investors, European Sleeper was able to make money available for a trial with a dining car and a beautiful European Sleeper livery.
A binding offer has been received for the renovation of second-hand carriages, based on a detailed preliminary study conducted with a potential supplier. Major steps have been taken towards financing the carriage project, with various financing and ownership options being considered.
