Meta gets Kunal Shah to lead WhatsApp globally, but what’s next for Cred?
Cred founder Kunal Shah has resigned as CEO of the fintech startup to take over as global head of WhatsApp; This also marks a major leadership transition for the company and ₹8,550 crore (approximately $900 million) investment from Meta.
The deal deepens Meta’s presence in India’s fintech sector and opens a new chapter for Cred, which is not headed by its founder.
With new financing, a new interim CEO and plans to eventually go public, the startup known for rewarding users who pay their credit card bills on time now has to prove it can continue to grow without being the responsibility of its founder.
Meta’s stake in Cred
Meta’s investment in Cred is structured through a combination of primary equity and secondary share purchases from existing investors, giving Meta a minority stake of approximately 20% in the fintech venture.
Cred’s valuation is as follows: ₹38,819 crore ($4.03 billion). Now that Meta will invest in the company, its post-money valuation will remain at: ₹43,239 crore ($4.5 billion). The Indian company also said Meta would come in as a minority investor and Cred would not have access to customer data.
The Series H fundraising round will fuel Cred’s plans to accelerate growth, build corporate strength and expand its leadership in categories. Shailendra Singh, MD of PeakXV Partners, which backed Cred in its startup phase, said the company had “built a category, brought together millions of highly engaged users and created a robust economic engine” and expressed confidence that it would “go from strength to strength in the years to come”.
Kunal Shah’s exit from the company he founded from scratch
Shah, who founded Cred in 2018 with the idea that creditworthiness should be rewarded, said that the company has transformed into a much more resilient company in the last eight years. He added that Cred is now ready for the next phase.
“In less than eight years, this belief has grown into a new category: millions of members, ~ ₹3,200 crore revenue, profitability, full licensing stack and a strong brand,” he said in an official statement.
Shah will replace current WhatsApp boss Will Cathcart, who has led the popular messaging service for nearly seven years.
WhatsApp is one of the world’s largest messaging platforms, reaching 3 billion monthly users by 2025. As its user base grows rapidly, Meta continues to expand new businesses on the platform, including advertising and subscriptions. It will now be up to Shah to create these revenue streams and integrate AI agents into WhatsApp.
Cred’s founder was recruited by Meta’s Chief Product Officer Chris Cox, who was looking for an entrepreneur from a country where WhatsApp was already widely adopted by users. India is WhatsApp’s largest market with millions of users.
Who will direct Cred for now?
While Shah will join Meta full-time, he will remain a shareholder of Cred. Meanwhile, Miten Sampat, the company’s head of strategy and finance, will take over as interim CEO with immediate effect.
“We have a generational opportunity to build on Kunal’s vision and move consistently towards becoming a public company,” Sampat said. “I’m excited to take CRED forward in this next chapter. We’re just getting started.”
CRED aims for eventual IPO
Alongside the latest leadership changes, the board is also simultaneously reviewing the company’s broader leadership structure with the goal of preparing Cred for an eventual IPO.
“The board and leaders are in the process of establishing the right leadership structure for an eventual IPO,” the company said in a statement. he said.
Cred processes over 40% of credit card bill payments in India and its lending book has grown so far: ₹24,000 crore in managed assets under management. The platform has 1.7 crore monthly active users exclusively from individuals with high credit scores. The company stated that this positioning allowed it to achieve the highest average revenue per user in India’s payment ecosystem.
Increasing competition in the UPI segment
The leadership transition comes at a time when competition in India’s UPI segment has intensified, with players such as PhonePe, Google Pay, Paytm, Navi, BHIM, super.money and WhatsApp Pay vying for market share.
Cred, which started with credit card bill payments and later expanded into UPI and lending, is trying to prove that it can stay relevant as the market gets crowded. This rivalry is particularly notable given that WhatsApp Pay, now under Shah’s leadership, is also trying to gain traction.
According to May 2026 NPCI data, WhatsApp Pay ranked ninth in UPI transaction volume, right behind CRED, which ranked eighth. Meta’s investment in Cred and Shah’s move to WhatsApp bring together two platforms seeking growth in digital payments: one built by a fintech startup, the other backed by one of the world’s largest messaging apps.
