Meta puts $900M into Cred at $4.5B, taps Kunal Shah to lead WhatsApp globally
Meta takes ~20% of Cred at a $4.5B valuation, up from $3.5B, while elevating founder Kunal Shah to run WhatsApp worldwide. Miten Sampat steps in as interim CEO as Cred lines up an IPO. Deal deepens Meta's India payments and business-messaging ambitions across 600M WhatsApp users.
What happened
Meta is investing $900M in Cred for ~20% stake at $4.5B valuation, while elevating founder Kunal Shah to head WhatsApp globally. Miten Sampat becomes interim
Key facts
- $900 million
- Rs 8,550 crore
- $4.5 billion valuation
- $3.5 billion prior valuation
- 20% Meta stake
- 600 million WhatsApp users India
- 150 million monthly UPI transactions
- 0.65% UPI market share
- 17 million MAU Cred
- Rs 24,000 crore lending book
- Rs 3,200 crore revenue
- $2 billion paid messaging run rate
Why this matters
Meta's stake plus a CEO handoff effectively locks in Cred as the distribution layer for WhatsApp payments and business messaging across 600M Indian users, narrowing partnership windows for rivals.