General Catalyst's Customer Value Fund offers non-dilutive capital at 12-15% tied to cohort payback

htaneja · x · 2026-11-06

Gokul Rajan recommends General Catalyst's Customer Value Fund (CVF) for startups with clear CAC/payback metrics: non-dilutive capital at roughly 12-15% interest to scale sales and marketing. He notes AI startups spend equity rounds mostly on GTM and compute, and hopes for a debt solve for compute next.

GC's Pranav Singhvi clarifies the mechanics: CVF only gets paid if the specific cohort pays back; if not, GC bears the risk on that cohort with no recourse to the rest of the company. Cost of capital is capped but outcome-dependent, and GC only works with companies whose unit economics hold. On compute: GC will finance compute spend when it's GTM-related with measurable ROI; the challenge is volatile or unmeasurable ROI where repayment depends on GPU prices staying up.

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