Indian Founder Kunal Shah Appointed WhatsApp CEO After Meta's $900 Million Investment In CRED

[00:00:07][music] >> Cred founder Kunal Shah is taking over one of the world's biggest messaging platforms, WhatsApp.

[00:00:14]Meta has announced a massive $900 million investment in Cred, and as part of the same deal, Kunal Shah has been appointed the new head of WhatsApp.

[00:00:25]He will succeed Will Cathcart, who has led the platform for the past 7 years.

[00:00:31]The investment is worth around 8,550 crore rupees and comes as part of Cred's Series H funding round.

[00:00:39]Under the agreement, Meta will acquire a minority stake of roughly 20% in Cred.

[00:00:46]The deal values the company at around 43,239 crore rupees and approximately 4.5 billion dollars on a post-money basis.

[00:00:56]The funding includes a combination of fresh capital and secondary share purchases. As part of the transition, Kunal Shah will step down as chief executive officer of Cred and join Meta's global leadership team. At WhatsApp, Shah will be tasked with leading the platform's next phase of growth. Meta says its focus will be on expanding revenue through advertising and subscription products. He will also oversee the integration of AI agents into WhatsApp's ecosystem.

[00:01:27]Meanwhile, outgoing WhatsApp chief Will Cathcart is moving into a new role focused on artificial intelligence initiatives within Meta.

[00:01:36]Back at Cred, Miten Sampat has been named interim chief executive officer with immediate effect. Sampat has overseen strategy and finance at the company since 2020.

[00:01:47]Cred says its board and leadership team are now working on a permanent management structure as the company prepares for a future stock market listing.

[00:01:56]For those unfamiliar with the company, CRED was founded by Kunal Shah in 2018.

[00:02:02]It initially focused on rewarding users who paid their credit card bills on time.

[00:02:07]Since then, it has expanded into a broader financial services platform offering payments, lending, insurance, wealth management, and lifestyle products.

[00:02:18]According to the company, CRED now has 1.7 crore monthly active users. It also handles more than 40% of India's credit card bill payments.

[00:02:28]Its lending business has reached 24,000 crore rupees in assets under management for partner financial institutions. The company reported annual revenue of around 3,200 crore rupees and says it has turned profitable.

[00:02:45]So, from building one of India's biggest fintech platforms to now leading WhatsApp's next chapter, Kunal Shah's journey is taking a major global leap.

[00:02:55]Let us know your thoughts in the comments below and stay [music] tuned for more news and updates.

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