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Meta is betting on India for WhatsApp\u2019s next chapter, naming entrepreneur Kunal Shah to lead the messaging app and succeed Will Cathcart, who is stepping down after nearly seven years at the helm to take on a new product-building role at the company.<\/p>\n
The move comes alongside a Meta-led $900 million financing for Indian fintech giant CRED<\/a>, structured through a combination of primary and secondary share purchases. The deal will make Meta a minority investor in the CRED, which said Shah will step down as chief executive while retaining his personal shareholding.<\/p>\n India is WhatsApp\u2019s largest market, with more than 500 million users<\/a> accounting for a significant share of the app\u2019s global base of over three billion people. The country has also emerged as a key battleground for Meta\u2019s ambitions in business messaging and digital payments, areas seen as critical to WhatsApp\u2019s next phase of growth.<\/p>\n Cathcart, who has led WhatsApp since 2019, oversaw a period of rapid expansion that helped the service become one of the world\u2019s most popular messaging apps, including with more than 100 million users in the United States. Under his leadership, WhatsApp expanded beyond private messaging with the launch of products such as Communities<\/a>, Channels<\/a>, and AI integrations<\/a>, while deepening its focus on business messaging.<\/p>\n But efforts by WhatsApp to push into digital payments have delivered mixed results. While WhatsApp Pay gained traction in India<\/a>, the service struggled<\/a> to replicate the scale and engagement achieved by local rivals such as PhonePe and Google Pay, leaving significant room for growth in one of the world\u2019s largest payments markets.<\/p>\n Meta is betting that Shah\u2019s experience building a consumer internet company in India can help unlock WhatsApp\u2019s next phase of growth. <\/p>\n In a statement, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Shah had built CRED into \u201cone of India\u2019s most important technology companies\u201d and brought the \u201cbuilder mentality and global perspective\u201d needed to run the world\u2019s largest messaging app.<\/p>\n The appointment comes as Meta seeks to expand WhatsApp\u2019s business beyond messaging, particularly in areas such as payments, commerce and business communications. India, as WhatsApp\u2019s largest market, has been central to those efforts.<\/p>\n In 2018, Shah founded CRED, a fintech platform with 17 million monthly active users, after earlier building FreeCharge, one of India\u2019s early digital payments startups. Beyond his operating roles, he has become one of India\u2019s most prominent startup investors, backing more than 250 companies and serving in advisory and industry leadership positions across the country\u2019s technology and financial services sectors.<\/p>\n Meta\u2019s investment values CRED at about $4.5 billion on a post-money basis. The startup was last valued at about $3.6 billion in a funding round in May 2025, below its peak valuation of $6.4 billion<\/a> in 2022. Before its Series F round, the company had raised more than $1 billion from investors.<\/p>\n As part of the transition, Miten Sampat, who has overseen strategy and finance at CRED since 2020, will take over as interim chief executive with immediate effect. Shah will retain his shareholding in the company after stepping away from day-to-day operations.<\/p>\n CRED said its board and leadership team were working on a longer-term management structure as the company prepares for an eventual initial public offering, with the fresh capital expected to support growth across its payments, lending, insurance, and wealth businesses.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission<\/a>. This doesn\u2019t affect our editorial independence.<\/em><\/p>\n