Meta has announced a major leadership change by appointing Kunal Shah as the new global CEO of WhatsApp, while also investing $900 million (around âč8,550 crore) in his fintech startup, CRED. The investment values CRED at around $4.5 billion and ranks among the biggest funding deals in Indiaâs startup ecosystem in recent years. The appointment is a rare moment where the founder of a major Indian startup has been chosen to lead a global consumer platform used by more than 3 billion people worldwide.
Kunal Shah will succeed Will Cathcart, who has led WhatsApp since 2019. During Cathcartâs tenure, WhatsApp expanded its role far beyond personal messaging and became a key platform for businesses, customer support, payments and digital communication. The social media behemoth has said Cathcart will remain with the company and work on other products, while Shah will lead WhatsAppâs next phase of growth.
âWill Cathcart just announced that heâs stepping down as the head of WhatsApp after 7 years leading the app. Kunal Shah will join Meta as WhatsAppâs next leader. Kunal built CRED into one of Indiaâs most important technology companies, and he brings the kind of builder mentality and global perspective that will serve him well in running the worldâs biggest messaging app,â Mark Zuckerberg said.
Within Metaâs hierarchy, Shah is expected to report into the companyâs product leadership structure led by Chief Product Officer Chris Cox, who reportedly played a key role in recruiting him. Importantly, as part of the deal, Meta will remain a minority investor in CRED and will not receive access to the companyâs member or transaction data. CRED has highlighted that customer information, spending records and financial data will continue to remain within its existing privacy and security framework.
The arrangement is structured as a strategic investment rather than an operational integration, meaning Meta will gain an ownership stake but will not be involved in handling or accessing CREDâs user data. Notably, CRED currently serves more than 25 million customers. The company reported FY25 operating revenue of âč2,735 crore, up 16% year-on-year, while operating losses narrowed by more than 50% to âč298 crore. Monthly transacting users reached 12.6 million, and annual payment volumes touched âč8.5 lakh crore.
It is important to note that India is at the center of Metaâs strategy for WhatsApp. The country is the platformâs largest market, with hundreds of millions of users relying on it every day. While Meta has pushed WhatsApp Pay for several years, it has struggled to gain the same scale as rivals like PhonePe and Google Pay. Therefore, with this latest move, Meta appears to see both CRED and Kunal Shah as an opportunity to strengthen its position in digital payments and financial services in one of the worldâs fastest-growing internet markets.
Meanwhile, Kunal Shahâs move to Meta will also trigger a leadership transition at CRED. Shah confirmed that he will step back from day-to-day operational responsibilities at the fintech company he founded in 2018. The business will now be led by Miten Sampat, Shahâs long-time deputy and one of the companyâs key executives, who has been appointed interim CEO. While Shah is expected to remain associated with CRED as founder and strategic advisor, operational control of the company will shift to Sampat as Metaâs investment provides fresh capital for CREDâs next stage of growth.
âIâm stepping away from the operating role and will continue as a shareholder. My commitment doesnât change. Just the role,â Kunal Shah added.
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Ashutosh is a Senior Writer at The Tech Portal, largely reporting on new tech, and intersection of technology and business. Ashutoshâs career spans across nearly a decade of technology writing across multiple platforms and languages.
