CRED founder Kunal Shah has reportedly announced a major career move, revealing that he will be stepping away from the everyday management of the fintech startup CRED to take on a senior leadership role at WhatsApp. The announcement from the founder did not come quietly as CRED pulled in a huge Rs 8,550 crore (that’s about USD 900 million) in Series H funding, with Meta as the lead investor.
Kunal Shah announces new role at WhatsApp
Shah made it all official on X, saying he’ll now run things at WhatsApp globally. He also stressed that Meta’s CRED investment doesn’t give them access to customer data, and they’re only a minority investor.
"As for me, I'll be joining Meta to lead WhatsApp globally. Meta comes in as a minority investor in CRED. No access to member data," Shah said.
This is certainly a major shift for Shah. He launched CRED in 2018 and, in just a few years, turned it into one of India’s top fintech platforms.
Miten Sampat Named Interim CEO
With Shah off to Meta, Miten Sampat is stepping in as CRED’s interim CEO. Sampat seems ready for the challenge. He pointed out that over 17 million creditworthy Indians use CRED to manage their finances, and he’s confident the company’s set up for continued growth, building right on top of Shah’s original vision.
From credit card payments to Fintech Super app
Founded in 2018, CRED initially started as a platform that rewarded users for paying credit card bills on time. Over the years, it has expanded into a comprehensive fintech ecosystem offering:
- UPI payments
- Utility bill payments
- Lending services
- Insurance products
- Investment solutions
The company has also grown through strategic acquisitions, including wealth management platform Kuvera.
It’s been making bold moves, too, like acquiring Kuvera for wealth management, and it recently got the green light from the Reserve Bank of India for a payment aggregator licence. That approval only deepens its spot as a major player in the digital finance space.
Meta leads Rs 8,550 crore Series H funding round
The Rs 8,550 crore Series H round includes a mix of primary and secondary share purchases, as per the reports, and according to the new valuation, CRED will now sit at about Rs 43,239 crore (USD 4.5 billion) post-money. The company said that the fresh capital will go into ramping up its product line, developing better tech and fuelling long-term growth.
