Prenetics raises $1bn from General Catalyst to fund IM8 marketing
Prenetics Global Limited has closed a $1 billion growth financing facility from General Catalyst's Customer Value Fund (CVF), channelling capital into marketing for IM8, its direct-to-consumer supplement brand co-founded with David Beckham. The arrangement is structured as cohort-matched, performance-linked financing rather than equity, with no shares, warrants, or convertible instruments issued to General Catalyst.
Under the terms, General Catalyst will fund up to 70% of IM8's monthly marketing spend. In return, it receives a capped share of income derived from each funded customer cohort. Once that cap is reached on a given cohort, all subsequent revenue from those customers reverts permanently to IM8. Prenetics will classify the arrangement as a financial liability on its consolidated balance sheet, with the return component recognised as interest expense below operating income, leaving gross margin and operating expenses unaffected.
Deal mechanics and growth trajectory
Prenetics says the rationale is structural rather than liquidity-driven: the company reported approximately $139.7 million in combined cash and near-cash assets as of 31 May 2026, and a $40 million share repurchase programme announced earlier this year. The CVF facility is instead designed to let IM8 accelerate customer acquisition without diluting existing shareholders or depleting reserves earmarked for product development and clinical research.
IM8 launched in December 2024 and the company describes it as the fastest-growing premium supplement brand by the metrics it tracks. Prenetics raised its full-year 2026 IM8 revenue guidance to $210–220 million, up from $190–210 million previously, and said the brand is on course for $300 million in annualised run-rate revenue by the end of 2026. For 2027, management is projecting full-year revenue in excess of $400 million. Preliminary unaudited figures show June 2026 as the brand's strongest month, at approximately $17 million. The company said every dollar invested in customer acquisition has returned $1.44 in gross profit blended across all mature cohorts, a figure it attributes to the brand's subscriber model.
Danny Yeung, chief executive of Prenetics and co-founder of IM8, said: "Every dollar we have ever spent acquiring customers has already returned $1.44 in gross profit, and that number rises every month, because these are subscribers."
IM8 describes itself as an AI-native organisation, with machine-learning models running continuous ad testing across its 43 markets, scoring cohort quality and predicting customer lifetime value in near real time. The CVF facility will be deployed across digital performance marketing, connected-TV media, ambassador partnerships, and brand activations in existing and new markets.
Market context and competitive positioning
The CVF financing model, pioneered by General Catalyst, represents a third path between dilutive equity raises and growth-constrained bootstrapping for subscription consumer businesses. A handful of publicly traded direct-to-consumer companies have used comparable arrangements, though the $1 billion commitment is among the larger disclosed deals of this type.
The premium supplement and longevity nutrition category has attracted significant venture and strategic capital over the past three years, with a number of well-funded brands competing on ingredient formulation, clinical evidence, and digital-acquisition efficiency. IM8's celebrity co-founder roster, which includes Giannis Antetokounmpo and Inter Miami CF alongside Beckham, gives the brand a consumer-marketing reach that most competitors cannot replicate organically.
Investors and analysts will be watching two near-term signals: the pace of CVF facility drawdown relative to the revenue forecasts disclosed today, and results from two active randomised controlled trials on gut health and longevity that Prenetics says are currently under way. New product launches are planned for Q4 2026 and Q1 2027, including an IM8 Hydration line and a premium gummies range, both of which will expand the addressable market and provide additional cohorts for General Catalyst's performance-linked return calculation.