David Beckham Wants To Replace All Your Supplements With IM8

David Beckham’s nutritional supplement brand is finally here.

On Monday, Beckham debuted IM8, an athletic nutritional supplement brand created in partnership with Hong Kong-based Prenetics Global. Beckham and Prenetics announced their partnership in July. IM8 has two products: an all-in-one powder called Daily Ultimate Essentials that sells for $99 for a one-time purchase or $79 for a one-month subscription, and an aging-focused capsule called Daily Ultimate Longevity that sells for $89 for a one-time purchase and $75 for a monthly subscription. The concept behind the brand and products is to offer the benefits of 16 different supplements in two products, covering areas like energy, digestion, endurance and hair, skin and nail health. While Beckham has been linked to a few protein powders in the past, this is the first time he is linking up with a supplement brand as co-founder and investor.

“As a former professional athlete, I wanted to bring to IM8 my experience and perspective of what’s important in a wellness product,” says David Beckham in an email statement. “I’m using my years of experience working with global brands and bringing great teams together. I am a customer of these products as well as a founder, and I think that helps me know what people want.”

The launch of IM8 arrives at the height of two distinct consumer brand trends: wellness products and professional athlete branding. According to the Global Wellness Institute 2023 figures, healthy eating, nutrition and weight loss represented more than a $1 trillion economy, only behind beauty and personal care. GWI forecasts the wellness economy to reach nearly $6.8 trillion in 2024 and nearly $9 trillion in 2028. In the case of professional athlete branding, more athletes are embracing the business side beyond endorsements in favor of a larger slice of the proceeds and better control. Athletes like former Yankees player Derek Jeter, tennis player Naomi Osaka, MMA star Conor McGregor and race car driver Danica Patrick have many brands across clothing, beauty and alcohol. Notably, when Kobe Bryant’s sport beverage brand BodyArmor sold to Coca-Cola in 2021 it netted his estate reportedly $400 million, surpassing his entire earnings from his NBA career. Beckham previously partnered with L’Oréal Group on a men’s grooming line called House 99 in 2018, which now appears to have shuttered.

However, with Beckham as co-founder, investor, and brand face, IM8’s future may play differently.

“As an athlete, David Beckham is someone that is not only personally respected, but universally respected as well,” says Marley Bigos, Barry’s Instructor and National Academy of Sports Medicine-certified nutrition coach, in an email.

IM8 boasts a pedigree that could help it break through the crowded supplement space. The brand formed a scientific advisory board that includes Dr. Dawn Mussallem, D.O., DipABLM, and integrative oncologist and lifestyle medicine specialist at the Mayo Clinic, Dr. James L. Green, Ph.D. and former Chief Scientist at NASA, and Dr. David L. Katz, M.D., founding director of the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center at the Yale School of Public Health. Additionally, IM8 boasts of its third-party testing for purity and potency, and the Daily Ultimate Essentials supplement is undergoing a 12-week randomized and controlled clinical trial. Supplements have historically relied on independent clinical tests of individual ingredients rather than testing final formulations, which has led to skepticism on their efficacy. But some brands, like Nutrafol, Love Wellness and Ritual have started to test their final formulations in clinical settings.

“I applaud the effort to conduct rigorous testing. While self-reported metrics can introduce bias, the attempt at scientific validation is commendable,” says Dr. Elizabeth Sharp, a board-certified internal medicine physician and founder and medical director at Health Meets Wellness, a concierge primary care practice for internal and functional medicines.

In an email, Dr. Sharp cautioned that people should thoroughly look at the ingredient list and monitor for potential interactions with existing medications or supplements. For instance, she says ingredients like berberine can interact with other medications. Additionally, when a supplement contains so many active components, it becomes difficult to isolate which ingredient delivers a specific benefit or potentially causes an adverse reaction. For this reason, she recommends that patients discontinue other supplements while trying this product to evaluate its effects better.

“This supplement shows promise for individuals looking for an all-in-one solution but should be used thoughtfully, with attention to individual needs,” she says. “While the breadth of ingredients is impressive, it’s worth noting that more isn’t always better.”

The company behind IM8, Prenetics Global, specializes in medical and consumer health and wellness. Prenetics sells CircleDNA, a consumer DNA testing kit focused on disease prevention rather than genealogy, and has a joint venture since 2023 with Chinese University of Hong Kong and molecular biologist Dennis Lo called Insighta to offer DNA testing for several major diseases and cancers. Prenetics went public via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) in 2021. Prenetics revenue from continuing operations of $12.4 million, an increase of 8% year-over-year, with a gross profit of $7.6 million, according to its unaudited second quarter and first-half 2024 earnings. Prenetics expects $33 million in revenue for fiscal year 2024 off the tailwind of the IM8 launch.

“It’s quite cumbersome when someone is taking a lot of supplementation, so how do we make the process easy?” says Danny Yeung, co-founder and CEO of Prenetics Global. “We’re coming at this [from the angle] that this is a formulation simplifying that process.”

“At the end of the day, we don’t want to just sell a supplement. We want to create a lifestyle, and we know about supplements. This is all part of a holistic approach to health,” he says.