Beckham-backed IM8 takes $1bn non-dilutive loan from General Catalyst
David Beckham’s health startup IM8 has secured a $1 billion non-equity loan from General Catalyst, signalling a shift in venture capital toward revenue-sharing deals that let founders keep their stock.
IM8, a longevity drink subsidiary backed by former footballer David Beckham, has secured $1 billion in funding from General Catalyst’s Customer Value Fund. The capital injection was announced on Tuesday.
Rather than buying a stake in the company, General Catalyst is extending a structured loan. For founders and investors across Europe, this represents a notable alternative to traditional venture capital. By avoiding equity sales, IM8’s parent company Prenetics retains total control and protects existing shareholders from ownership dilution.
The agreement will finance up to 70% of IM8’s customer acquisition costs. In return, the investor receives a capped share of the "reference income" generated by those newly acquired customers, which is defined as their revenue multiplied by a fixed gross-margin assumption.
Once General Catalyst recoups its $1 billion investment and hits its cap on revenue sharing, all subsequent income from those customers flows entirely back to Prenetics. This mechanism is designed for businesses with predictable subscription revenue and a clear strategy for deploying capital to accelerate growth. For growth-stage companies, it offers a middle ground between raising expensive equity and taking on rigid bank debt.
IM8 sells a vitamin drink containing compounds like açai fruit extract and Coenzyme Q10 through a subscription model. The startup is betting that upfront marketing spend will secure long-term, recurring revenue from consumers focused on longevity. Backing a celebrity-endorsed health product with this type of capital highlights how non-dilutive financing is moving beyond software into consumer goods.
The company was co-founded by CEO Danny Yeung, a high-school dropout who previously founded Prenetics before it went public in 2022. Yeung's connection with Beckham began over dinner, ultimately leading to the creation of IM8 as a Prenetics subsidiary.
General Catalyst’s fund has now deployed this financing structure at a massive scale for a second time. Grammarly also secured $1 billion from the Customer Value Fund in May 2025, shortly before the writing tool company acquired Superhuman. The repeated use of this model suggests major investors are increasingly willing to bet on future revenue rather than demanding an ownership stake.
