Kunal Shah to lead WhatsApp as Meta takes a bite of Cred

Meta Platforms Inc. has named fintech entrepreneur Kunal Shah as the new global head of WhatsApp, pulling off an unusual executive crossover as part of a $900 million investment in his financial services startup Cred.

Shah, who has previously founded and sold FreeCharge and backed a range of Indian startups, will replace Will Cathcart, who has led WhatsApp since 2019. Cathcart will move to a new role at Meta, focused on building products from scratch.

“Kunal built Cred into one of India’s most important technology companies, and he brings the kind of builder mentality and global perspective that will serve him well in running the world’s biggest messaging app,” Meta founder and Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said.

Meta's Chief Product Officer Chris Cox hailed Shah as one of India’s most respected entrepreneurs, adding, “we are fortunate to have him guide WhatsApp through this next era”. Meta said Cox sought out Shah as it looked for a leader who understood WhatsApp’s global product opportunity.

The appointment puts an Indian founder at the helm of WhatsApp, which has 3.3 billion monthly active users worldwide. Shah's role at the helm of WhatsApp comes at a time when the messaging app is looking to deepen its role in business messaging and payments, particularly in largest market India.

Shah joins Meta’s global leadership team, leaving his operating role as Cred CEO. Miten Sampat, who leads strategy and finance at Cred, will take over as interim CEO, while the board works on a longer-term leadership structure ahead of an eventual initial public offering (IPO).

Meta’s investment will value Cred at $4.5 billion post-money, or about ₹43,239 crore, and give it a roughly 20% stake in the company. The deal includes both primary and secondary share purchases, Meta said, adding that it will not get access to Cred customer data.

For Shah, the move marks a major shift from building one of India’s most closely watched fintechs to leading a global consumer platform. Shah founded Cred in 2018 and grew it from a credit card bill-payment app into a broader financial-services platform spanning payments, lending, insurance, wealth and lifestyle products.

Cred last raised $72 million in June 2025 from GIC, RTP Global, Sofina Ventures and QED Innovation Labs at a $3.5 billion valuation. With the latest Meta investment, Cred’s total funding so far stands at about $1.8 billion.

Cred has been trying to show that its premium user base can be turned into a broader financial services business. In FY25, it reported operating revenue of ₹2,735 crore, up 16% year-on-year, while operating loss narrowed 51% to ₹298 crore.

The company said its platform now has 17 million monthly users across payments, lending, insurance, wealth and lifestyle products. It also said it processes more than 40% of credit card bill payments in India and has ₹24,000 crore in managed assets under management in its lending business.

“I started Cred in 2018 with a belief that creditworthiness deserves to be rewarded,” Shah said. “In under eight years, that belief has turned into a new category: millions of members, ~ ₹3,200 crore (~US $325M) in revenue, profitability, a full stack of licences and a strong brand.”

Shah added that he is stepping back from the operating role, as the team continues to push the business forward.

Cred has also been wading deeper into payments, with Mint reporting last week that it was close to 10 million users on its biometric UPI feature. In May 2026, NPCI data showed Cred with a 0.68% share of UPI transaction volume and 2.04% by value, while PhonePe and Google Pay continued to dominate the market.

The big changes at Cred come at a time when competition in UPI is intensifying across fintech apps such as PhonePe, Google Pay, Paytm, Navi, Bhim, Flipkart-backed super.money and WhatsApp Pay. Cred, which started with credit card bill payments and later expanded into UPI and lending, has been trying to prove that it can stay relevant as the market becomes more crowded.