Meta invests $900 million in CRED, names Kunal Shah as next WhatsApp chief

In a major leadership shake-up and one of its biggest bets on India, Meta is investing around $900 million (approximately ₹8,500 crore) in fintech startup CRED, while appointing founder Kunal Shah as the next global head of WhatsApp.The development was announced by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a social media post, where he confirmed that WhatsApp chief Will Cathcart will step down after leading the messaging platform for seven years."Will's been one of Meta's most important and effective leaders, helping to bring WhatsApp to over 3 billion people and championing privacy for our community," Zuckerberg said, adding that Cathcart will move into a new role within Meta focused on building products from the ground up.Read more: 'Largest employer in the world is inefficiency': CRED's Kunal Shah at Storyboard18 Global Pioneers SummitZuckerberg also confirmed that Kunal Shah will take over as WhatsApp's next leader, describing him as a builder who transformed CRED into one of India's most influential technology companies."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," Zuckerberg said.The leadership transition comes alongside Meta's reported $900 million investment in CRED, deepening the social media giant's presence in India's rapidly growing digital payments and fintech ecosystem.Reports over the past week had indicated that Meta was exploring an investment in the Bengaluru-based startup and evaluating broader strategic partnerships involving Shah.The deal is big for CRED, which was founded in 2018 and has evolved from a credit card payments platform into a broader financial services ecosystem spanning payments, lending, merchant solutions and consumer financial products. The company recently secured a payment aggregator licence from the Reserve Bank of India, strengthening its position in the country's digital payments market.As part of the transition, CRED is expected to be led by Miten Sampat, currently one of the senior-most executives at the company. The move ensures continuity at the fintech startup as Shah shifts to a global operating role at Meta.Also read: Meta says AI era drove choice of Kunal Shah as next WhatsApp chief; links CRED investment to leadership transitionWatch