--- title: "Meta splashes $900 million to invest in Indian fintech unicorn CRED, founder to take the helm of WhatsApp" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/290460586.md" description: "Meta announced an investment of $900 million in the Indian fintech company CRED, with a valuation of approximately $4.5 billion. CRED founder Kunal Shah will take over as the global head of WhatsApp, succeeding Will Cathcart. Meta will acquire a minority stake in CRED but will not have access to customer data. This move aims to strengthen its presence in the Indian market and enhance WhatsApp's commercialization strategy, as India is WhatsApp's largest market with over 500 million users" datetime: "2026-06-22T16:15:02.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/290460586.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/290460586.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/290460586.md) --- # Meta splashes $900 million to invest in Indian fintech unicorn CRED, founder to take the helm of WhatsApp According to Zhitong Finance APP, Meta Platforms (META.US) announced on Monday that it will invest $900 million in the Indian fintech company CRED, valuing the latter at approximately $4.5 billion. At the same time, CRED founder Kunal Shah will join Meta as the global head of WhatsApp, succeeding the current head Will Cathcart. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg confirmed this management change in a Facebook post. Zuckerberg stated that after leading WhatsApp for seven years, Cathcart will transition to another position within Meta. Subsequently, Shah also confirmed the related appointment news. This transaction is one of the largest financing deals in the Indian fintech industry in recent years. According to the terms of the deal, Meta will acquire a minority stake in CRED, headquartered in Bangalore, India, but will not gain access to its customer data. CRED was founded in 2018 and primarily offers a membership-based financial service platform aimed at high credit score users, covering various fields such as payments, consumer credit, insurance, wealth management, and lifestyle services. The company stated that it currently has 17 million active members each month, handling over 40% of India's credit card bill payments, and managing loan assets exceeding 240 billion rupees (approximately $2.5 billion) for partner financial institutions. Following the completion of this financing, CRED plans to use the new funds to further accelerate business expansion, strengthen its management team and institutional capacity building, and continue to expand its product and service offerings. Meanwhile, Miten Sampat, who has been responsible for the company's strategy and finance since 2020, will serve as the interim CEO. For Meta, this investment is not only an important move to strengthen its presence in the Indian market but also signifies the company's further reinforcement of its commercialization strategy for WhatsApp. India is WhatsApp's largest market globally, with a user base exceeding 500 million. In recent years, WhatsApp has gradually extended from an instant messaging tool to a payment, business service, and digital financial platform, becoming an important part of Meta's growth strategy in emerging markets. Market participants believe that Kunal Shah has rich experience in the Indian fintech sector, and his addition is expected to help WhatsApp further expand its payment and financial services business and promote the platform's commercialization process. After the completion of this transaction, CRED's valuation will reach $4.5 billion, an increase from its previous round of financing valuation of $3.5 billion in 2025, but still below the historical peak of $6.4 billion reached in 2022. It is worth mentioning that Meta has been continuously increasing its investment in the Indian tech industry in recent years. Previously, the company invested in Jio Platforms, the digital business platform owned by Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani. The latter submitted its application for a U.S. IPO last week. As India's digital payment, consumer finance, and internet service markets continue to grow rapidly, Meta is further deepening its strategic influence in the Indian market through investments and management changes, and this collaboration with CRED may also open new growth opportunities for the future development of WhatsApp's financial services ecosystem ### Related Stocks - [META.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/META.US.md) - [METU.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/METU.US.md) - [CRED.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/CRED.US.md) - [FBL.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/FBL.US.md) - [FBY.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/FBY.US.md) - [FBYY.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/FBYY.US.md) - [METD.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/METD.US.md) - [METW.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/METW.US.md) - [MAGX.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/MAGX.US.md) ## Related News & Research - [Meta's CTO says morale is almost 'the worst it's ever been'](https://longbridge.com/en/news/289961445.md) - [Meta pauses an AI training program that tracks employees' keystrokes after a companywide leak](https://longbridge.com/en/news/290475410.md) - [1,224 Shares in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Purchased by Nolet Wealth Management LLC](https://longbridge.com/en/news/290343097.md) - [10:11 ETDrive Social Media Assures Clients That Ad Campaigns Will Continue to Thrive Amidst Meta Andromeda Rollout](https://longbridge.com/en/news/290449467.md) - [Half a billion people are using Threads every month](https://longbridge.com/en/news/289909014.md)