Key facts
- IM8, a health drink startup co-founded by David Beckham, has received $1 billion in funding.
- The funding comes from General Catalyst's Customer Value Fund (CVF), which offers debt-like financing.
- IM8 will repay the loan with a capped percentage of revenue generated from customers acquired with the funds.
- General Catalyst will not take an ownership stake or dilute IM8's equity.
- IM8 is a subsidiary of Prenetics, founded by CEO Danny Yeung and David Beckham.
David Beckham's health drink startup IM8 has secured $1 billion in funding from General Catalyst's Customer Value Fund (CVF). Unlike traditional venture capital investments, CVF provides financing structured as loans with non-traditional repayment terms. Startups repay the loan amount plus a fixed, capped percentage of their generated revenue.
This structure means General Catalyst will not acquire an ownership stake in IM8, thus avoiding equity dilution for the company. This type of funding is intended for startups with predictable revenue streams that can leverage additional capital for growth.
IM8 was co-founded by CEO Danny Yeung, who previously founded the health company Prenetics, which went public in 2022. IM8, a subsidiary of Prenetics, sells vitamin drinks containing longevity-linked compounds via a subscription model.
The loan agreement specifies that it can finance up to 70% of IM8's customer acquisition costs. In return, General Catalyst will receive a capped share of what it terms "reference income," calculated as revenue from those customers multiplied by an assumed gross margin. Once General Catalyst recovers its investment and reaches its revenue share cap, all subsequent revenue from those customers will belong to Prenetics.
This follows a similar transaction where Grammerly also received $1 billion from General Catalyst's CVF in May 2025, shortly before acquiring Superhuman.