WhatsApp Appoints Cred Founder Kunal Shah as Global Chief

The messaging platform WhatsApp revealed this week that Cred founder Kunal Shah will be taking over as CEO. As a result, the serial fintech entrepreneur is now at the helm of the biggest messaging platform in the world. As part of this acquisition, Cred will receive a $900 million investment from WhatsApp parent Meta, which also owns Instagram and Facebook.

This amounts to approximately INR 8,550 crore. With this investment, Cred is able to proceed with ESOP buybacks. In his capacity as Cred's chief executive officer, a position that will be temporarily held by senior executive Miten Sampat, Shah supervised the service's expansion to a user base that encompassed more than one-third of India's credit card bill payments, with a focus on the most affluent Indians.

Why Shah’s Appointment is Crucial for WhatsApp?

Despite WhatsApp's massive user base—which includes many Indians—the company has been unable to adequately monetise its services. This is where Shah is useful. He said in a statement that he would be responsible for bringing the platform to that level. Shah posted on X, "While it's come very far, the delta between WhatsApp today and its full potential is massive."

Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Meta, announced on Facebook that Will Cathcart will continue to work for Meta but in a different capacity.  Cathcart has been the head of WhatsApp for seven years and has been outspoken about the app's dedication to end-to-end encryption and holding spyware developers responsible. Kunal, according to Zuckerberg, made CRED into one of the most significant tech startups in India.

Also, as CEO of the largest messaging app in the world, he has the ideal combination of builder mindset and global vision. Prior to establishing Cred, Shah was the founder of several successful firms, including 2009's cashback-focused PaisaBack and 2015's mobile wallet FreeCharge, which Snapdeal later purchased. He has taken part in companies across the fintech ecosystem, such as Razorpay, and has been an angel investor due to the inflated valuations of his previous startups.

Cred Valuation and IPO Preparations

CRED is valued at approximately $4.5 billion after accounting for Meta's investment. After reaching a high of $6.4 billion in 2022, the startup's most recent investment round came in May of 2025, when its valuation was approximately $3.6 billion. Investors had already put over $1 billion into the firm prior to its Series F financing.

In anticipation of a future initial public offering, CRED's board of directors and executive team are reportedly developing a more comprehensive plan for the company's long-term administration. The company plans to use the money from the IPO to expand its wealth, insurance, payments, and lending operations.