Meta taps new WhatsApp boss as part of US$900 million investment into GIC-backed Indian startup

[BENGALURU] Meta Platforms is investing US$900 million into Indian fintech startup Cred, with plans to appoint its founder, Kunal Shah, the new leader of WhatsApp.

The investment gives Meta a roughly 20 per cent stake in Cred, which operates an app that rewards customers for paying their credit card bills on time. The company is now valued at US$4.5 billion post-money, according to a press release.

Shah will replace the current head of WhatsApp, Will Cathcart, who has been running the popular messaging service for roughly seven years. Cathcart, who saw WhatsApp’s user base more than double in size during his tenure, is staying at Meta but will step into a new role using artificial intelligence tools to develop consumer apps and products. A Meta spokesperson declined to share details about Cathcart’s next project.

The investment represents a new chapter for WhatsApp, which is one of the world’s largest messaging platforms. The app has grown considerably in recent years, surpassing three billion monthly users in 2025, though it is still early in developing several new business lines, including advertising and subscriptions.

Building out those revenue streams, as well as integrating AI agents into WhatsApp, will now fall to Shah, Cred’s 47-year-old founder. Shah was recruited by Meta’s chief product officer Chris Cox, who was seeking an entrepreneur from a country where WhatsApp already has a strong foothold.

Cox called Shah “one of India’s most respected entrepreneurs, a serious thinker, and a deeply good person”, according to a statement shared by a Meta spokesperson. Shah currently lives in Bengaluru, but will relocate to the Bay Area to work out of Meta’s Menlo Park, California headquarters, the spokesperson added.

Meta has employed this investment-recruitment strategy before to fill out key leadership roles within the company. Last year, the company invested over US$14 billion into Scale AI and recruited its founder, Alexandr Wang, to take over Meta’s newly created AI lab.

“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 massaging app,” Meta chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a post shared with Bloomberg.

Meta in India

Meta has made several investments in India over the past few years, one of its most important markets and a major hub for WhatsApp. The social media giant invested US$5.7 billion into Jio Platforms in 2020, taking a 10 per cent stake in the company as part of a push to help increase commerce on WhatsApp. It also announced a deal earlier this month to lease its first AI data centre in India.

SEE ALSO

Meta to launch ‘Incognito Chat’ for private AI conversations on WhatsApp

EU warns Meta WhatsApp AI fee breaches antitrust rules, orders rollback

Meta ordered to pay US$375 million in New Mexico trial over child exploitation, user safety claims

WhatsApp wins court backing to challenge US$268 million Irish privacy fine

US has investigated claims that WhatsApp chats aren’t private

More

Founded in 2018, Cred offers consumers perks and rewards tied to their credit card repayments. Its app, which has 17 million monthly users, can also analyse and track spending, according to its website. The company raised US$75 million last year in a Series G funding round led by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC, according to IBS Intelligence.

As part of its investment, Meta will provide both primary and secondary capital, according to the press release, meaning it will purchase shares from some of Cred’s existing investors.

Shah will join Meta full-time, stepping away from Cred, though he will remain a shareholder. Miten Sampat, an executive leading company strategy, will take over as interim CEO while the board reviews Cred’s leadership structure with an eye towards an “eventual IPO,” the press release said.

Meta is not taking a board seat and will not receive access to Cred customer information, according to the Indian company. BLOOMBERG