General Catalyst Injects $1 Billion Into Beckham's IM8 via Non-Equity Fund
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The deal utilizes a revenue-share model to finance customer acquisition for the longevity drink startup, avoiding traditional venture equity.
IM8, a health drink startup co-founded by David Beckham and CEO Danny Yeung, has secured $1 billion in funding from General Catalyst’s Customer Value Fund (CVF), according to a Tuesday announcement reported by TechCrunch.
Unlike traditional venture capital, the CVF does not take an ownership stake in the companies it funds, meaning IM8's ownership will not be diluted. Instead, the fund provides loans with non-traditional repayment terms. According to TechCrunch, the CVF targets startups with predictable revenue streams that intend to use capital to accelerate growth.
IM8 operates as a subsidiary of Prenetics, a health company founded by Yeung that went public in 2022. The startup sells a subscription-based vitamin drink containing longevity-linked compounds, including Coenzyme Q10 and açai fruit extract.
The $1 billion loan is specifically structured to finance up to 70% of IM8's customer acquisition costs. In exchange, General Catalyst will receive a capped share of "reference income," which TechCrunch defines as revenue from those specific customers multiplied by a fixed gross-margin assumption. Once General Catalyst recovers its investment and reaches the revenue share cap, all remaining revenue from those customers reverts to Prenetics.
This marks another significant deployment of the CVF; TechCrunch previously reported that Grammerly received $1 billion from the same fund in May 2025.