Technology

Meta Invests $900 Million in CRED; Kunal Shah Appointed WhatsApp Global Head

Meta has bought a 20 per cent stake in CRED as part of its Series H funding round, investing $900 million in the company. CRED founder Kunal Shah is WhatsApp’s new global chief, succeeding Will Cathcart.

ravi singh

Jun 23, 2026 - 17:06

Jun 23, 2026 - 17:25

Kunal shah

CRED Appoints Kunal Shah, Former WhatsApp Global Head, as New Leader

As part of the deal, Meta will buy an estimated 20 per cent stake in CRED, a minority stake. As part of the Series H funding round for the startup, Meta Platforms has invested $900 million (around Rs 8,550 crore) in CRED. In the same deal, CRED founder Kunal Shah has been named the new head of WhatsApp, replacing Will Cathcart, who has been leading the messaging platform for seven years.

Meta takes a 20 per cent stake in CRED.

Under the deal, Meta will take a minority stake of about 20 per cent in CRED. The investment values the company at Rs 43,239 crore, or about $4.5 billion, on a post-money basis. The financing will be composed of primary and secondary share securities.

Shah will step down as CEO of CRED and will be part of Meta’s global leadership team. Will Cathcart will be replaced by him as he moves into an artificial intelligence-focused role. Shah will step away from the day-to-day operations, and Miten Sampat, who has led strategy and finance at CRED since 2020, has been appointed interim chief executive officer with immediate effect. The CRED management group and board are working to put in place a permanent management structure as the company gears up for a potential public listing, the company said.

CRED was founded in 2018 and started off as a service to incentivise people to pay their credit card bills on time. Since then, it has expanded into a wider financial services platform across payments, lending, insurance, wealth management and lifestyle services.

The company now has 1.7 crore monthly active members and processes over 40 per cent of India’s credit card bill payments, it said. Its lending business has partnered with financial institutions to reach Rs 24,000 crore in assets under management. CRED also reported annual revenues of around Rs 3,200 crore and has confirmed that it has turned profitable.