Musely secures $360M from General Catalyst without giving up equity

Musely, a direct-to-consumer telemedicine platform, has secured over $360 million in non-dilutive capital from General Catalyst’s Customer Value Fund (CVF). The company specializes in compounded treatments for skin, hair, and menopause care. Musely co-founder and CEO Jack Jia told TechCrunch that when CVF investors reached out to him last year, he wasn’t looking to raise capital. That’s because Musely, which was founded in 2014 as a wellness community before pivoting to prescription skincare in 2019, has been cash flow positive for years, he said. Jia didn’t want to reduce his ownership in the company by selling off a chunk of it to VCs. They frequently approached him about a potential round and he consistently turned them down, he said. But unlike traditional venture capital, CVF wasn’t looking to take an equity stake, nor was it offering a loan that would carry interest rate charges. Instead, CVF’s alternative financing is similar to a tiny revenue-share agreement: Companies with predictable revenue streams borrow capital, and then repay the funds along with a fixed, capped percentage of revenue it generates from the use of General Catalyst’s fund. Although Jia was initially skeptical, he quickly realized CVF’s terms were more favorable than a standard