Meta Names Kunal Shah WhatsApp Chief, Invests $900 Million in CRED for India Payments Push
Updated
Updated · TechCrunch · Jun 22
Meta Names Kunal Shah WhatsApp Chief, Invests $900 Million in CRED for India Payments Push
3 articles · Updated · TechCrunch · Jun 22
Summary
$900 million from Meta will fund CRED and make the company a minority holding as founder Kunal Shah leaves the fintech's CEO role to take over WhatsApp.
India drives the reshuffle: WhatsApp has more than 500 million users there, and Meta wants Shah to accelerate growth in payments, commerce and business messaging.
Will Cathcart, who led WhatsApp since 2019, is moving to a product-building role after overseeing expansion into Communities, Channels, AI features and a U.S. base above 100 million users.
CRED, now valued at about $4.5 billion versus $3.6 billion in 2025 and a $6.4 billion peak in 2022, named Miten Sampat interim CEO as it prepares for a future IPO.