New Delhi, 22 June

Meta will invest Rs 8,550 crore in fintech platform CRED as part of its Series H funding round, while CRED founder Kunal Shah will step down as Chief Executive Officer to lead WhatsApp globally.

The investment values Bengaluru-based CRED at Rs 43,239 crore (USD 4.5 billion) post-money. Meta will join CRED as a minority investor and will not have access to customer data, the company said.

Announcing the move, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Shah's experience building CRED into one of India's leading technology companies made him the right person to lead the world's largest messaging platform.

Shah said WhatsApp had enormous untapped potential and that he looked forward to leading its next phase of growth. He will retain his personal shareholding in CRED.

Following his exit, Miten Sampat, who has headed strategy and finance since 2020, has been appointed interim CEO.

CRED said the fresh capital would be used to accelerate growth, strengthen institutional capabilities and expand its leadership across categories.

Founded in 2018, CRED reported revenue of around Rs 3,200 crore and has turned profitable. The company claims to process over 40 per cent of India's credit card bill payments, with 1.7 crore monthly users and a lending business managing assets worth Rs 24,000 crore.