CRED founder Kunal Shah is stepping down from day-to-day operations at the fintech unicorn to take over as the global head of Meta-owned WhatsApp.
Announcing the move in a post on X, Shah said Miten Sampat will take over as an interim CEO at the startup. Shah will continue to retaining his personal shareholding in CRED. In parallel, WhatsApp head Will Cathcart, who has been leading WhatsApp over the last seven years, will transition to a new role within Meta. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that Cathcart would be transitioning to a new role within Meta where he'll build new products from the ground-up.
Meanwhile, Shah also announced that CRED is raising ₹8,550 Cr (about $900 Mn) in its Series H round, which is a mix of primary and secondary share purchases, led by Meta. CRED will raise this funding at a post-money valuation of ₹43,239 crore (about $4.5 Bn) and a pre-money valuation of ₹38,819 crore (about $4.03 Bn).
"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 in his post, adding that the startup has reported a revenue of ₹3,200 Cr. He added that CRED registered its first profitable quarter in 2026.
He added that the startup has also announced its fifth ESOP buyback
CRED said its board and leaders are in the process of constituting the right leadership structure towards eventual IPO.
Commenting on the development, interim CEO Sampat said, "1.7 Cr creditworthy Indians trust CRED with improving their relationship with money. Behind this is a high-talent-density team that has consistently demonstrated ownership, mission orientation, and taste. We have a generational opportunity to build on Kunal's vision and compound consistently towards becoming a public company. I'm excited to take CRED forward in its next chapter. We are just getting started."
Founded by Shah in 2018 as a credit card bill payments platform, CRED has evolved into a fintech super app. Its offerings span UPI payments, utility bill payments, lending, insurance, investments, among others.
Over the years, the startup expanded its offerings through new launches and acquisitions, including the purchase of wealthtech platform Kuvera. In March, it also received the final approval from the RBI for its payment aggregator licence application.
CRED has raised a total funding of $939 Mn to date from marquee investors Peak XV Partners, Alpha Wave Global, Dragoneer Investments, among others.