Facebook parent Meta is investing around $900 million (approximately Rs 8,550 crore) in fintech unicorn CRED through a mix of primary and secondary transactions, the companies announced on Monday.
As part of the deal, CRED founder Kunal Shah will join Meta as the global CEO of WhatsApp, while Miten Sampat will assume the role of interim CEO at CRED.
“Kunal Shah will join Meta as WhatsApp's next leader. 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. I look forward to working with Kunal to continue to make WhatsApp the best service for billions of people and millions of businesses,” said Mark Zuckerberg in a post on Meta.
Will Cathcart, who led WhatsApp for seven years, has announced that he is stepping down as the head of the messaging platform.
In a post on X, Shah said, “CRED is ready for its next phase. I am stepping back and @miten steps in as interim CEO, partnered with an incredibly talented team. He has been heading strategy and finance and suffering me since 2020. I’m stepping away from the operating role and will continue as a shareholder. My commitment doesn’t change. Just the role.”
Shah also announced the company's fifth ESOP buyback programme.
Before this round, CRED had raised over $1 billion across nine funding rounds. Its last fundraise came in May 2025, when it secured $72 million from GIC in a down round that lowered its valuation to $3.64 billion from $6.4 billion in 2022.
According to the company, CRED’s operating revenue grew 16% year-on-year to Rs 2,735 crore in FY25, while its operating losses narrowed by 51% to Rs 298 crore during the same period.
Source link
