Kunal Shah to become Global Head of WhatsApp
Meta Platforms has named Kunal Shah, the founder of Indian fintech company Cred, as the new global head of WhatsApp, taking over from Will Cathcart, the current head of the messaging service, the companies announced.
In conjunction with the transition, Meta plans to put in roughly $900 million (Rs 8,550 crore) into Cred, which is valued at $4.5 billion.
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Cred, the Indian fintech company established by Shah in 2018, will be headed by Miten Sampat, who is presently the minus one at the firm.
Cred is the second startup from which Shah is departing. He constructed and marketed Freecharge, an Indian platform for digital payments and mobile recharging, from 2015 to 2018. Over time, Shah has emerged as one of the leading personalities in India's startup landscape. Along with creating Cred, he has funded countless early-stage startups and entrepreneurs, gaining recognition as one of the nation's most engaged angel investors. Currently, he has worldwide aspirations and is relocating to San Francisco from Bengaluru.
"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," Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, said on June 22.
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Kunal Shah, founder, CRED says, “I started Cred in 2018 with a belief that creditworthiness deserves to be rewarded. In under eight years, that belief has turned into a new category: millions of members, Rs.3,200 crore (US $325M) in revenue, profitability, a full stack of licences and a strong brand. On this foundation, with additional capital and an extraordinarily talented team, CRED is poised to become an enduring institution for decades to come. I’m stepping back with gratitude and with conviction that the team will keep raising the bar.”
Shah assumes the role from WhatsApp's current leader, Will Cathcart, who will be resigning. Operational duties at Cred will transition to Miten Sampat, who is currently Shah's deputy at the fintech startup.
Miten Sampat, interim CEO, CRED says, “1.7 crore 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.”
Since its founding nearly eight years ago, Cred has raised approximately $1 billion from investors such as Tiger Global, Ribbit Capital, Peak XV Partners, Greenoaks Capital, DST Global, and numerous others.
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Shailendra Singh, MD, PeakXV Partners says, “CRED has had a highly inspiring startup journey since we led the seed round in 2018 and a lot of the credit for its unusual success goes to Kunal - whom we’ve partnered for over a decade - and the core leadership team at CRED. The company has created a category, amassed millions of highly engaged users, and built a sound economic engine. We are excited about the next phase of CRED as it strengthens the product, platform, and distribution moats it has built, and believe it will go from strength to strength in the years ahead.”