Investor Update: Train Effective’s Exciting 2023! ??

Dear Train Effective Family,

I hope you’ve had a splendid festive season, surrounded by loved ones and could enjoy a well earned break.

With the year at a close, it’s an opportune moment to reflect on the milestones that fuelled our year? – a journey you’re following either as one of our 200 Crowdcube investors or just watching here on LinkedIn.

2023 for every business was uncertain and we were no exception to that rule.

It’s been a tough time for many startups out there, especially those reliant on funding.?

So the big question for us was: how could we continue to grow our company, profitably??

Some tough decisions were made at the start of the year. We had to trim some fat, get rid of things that were ‘sort of working but not moving the needle’ and 80/20 ruled our way to what we see today, the fruits of our labor and those decisions! ??

Let’s jog through some highlights, shall we?

• We are now net profitable (in the six figures) for the first time! All whilst growing the team to 17 wonderful people! Our focus on the bottom line this year has been very effective. ??
• We quadrupled paid subscriber growth from a few thousand to the tens of thousands of users. App monetisation was something our team focused more on in 2023 and our conversion rates really bumped through the roof! ??
• We had more than 200 players from over 25 different countries join us in-person in London. ??
• And that wasn’t the only metric we more than doubled: our football app has grown to over 1.7 million registered users, up from 822,000 at the end of last year! ??
• Brand wise, we’re on the verge of reaching 4 million followers in total, having surpassed 2.5 million followers on TikTok, and 400,000 followers on both Instagram & Youtube. ??
• We added 100’s of new success stories including a Champions League player praising our app (Johan Bakayoko, PSV Eindhoven), pro and semi-pro contracts signed, soccer scholarships awarded and much more positive feedback from our users. ??
• Excitingly, we soft launched our Pickleball app and proved our app can easily be replicated to new sports, powering our mission to become the market leader in sports specific training!???

I love working with our team at Train Effective .

We have a clear sense of purpose and positivity.?

Okay sure ?? I know I founded this company but, with many of our team having an elite sporting background, we are also in it to win it.?

One of my proud moments of the year was when we played our annual London staff versus camp players tournament. Having lost the previous year, we were hungry for a victory. Our ex-Watford striker, Sam Shaban bagged the goals and Leander Stimmer was an unstoppable force in goal. We won!?

Moving from the physical to the digital, over half of our revenue now comes from subscriptions. The scalable, digital ecosystem will be an area of more focus in 2024 as we look to scale and help every athlete reach their full potential.?

2024 will aim to feature more depth in football with translations and new segment such as grassroots, as well as more breadth by adding new sports (think pickleball ?, padel, basketball, tennis, etc).?

We’re currently raising to make this happen faster. Want to invest again? Let us know.?Want to refer us to someone? We’re handing out referral bonuses. ??

Your commitment fuels our progress, and we’re excited for the journey ahead.. yours included!?

Stay effective!

- Nick Humphries & the entire Train Effective team