Funding · Financial Services

Meta invests $900 Mn in CRED, Kunal Shah steps down

By Startup Enthusiast · 22 June 2026

What they do

CRED is a members-only club for creditworthy individuals with a credit score of 750 or more

Meta leads a $900 Mn Series H round, with $500 Mn primary and $400 Mn secondary, at a $4.5 Bn valuation

Founder Kunal Shah becomes global head of WhatsApp at Meta; Miten Sampat is interim CEO

Meta invests $900 Mn in CRED through a mix of primary and secondary share sales.
The round is a Series H led by Meta, giving Meta a ~20% minority stake in CRED.
Primary capital of about $500 Mn goes into CRED for growth.
Secondary capital of about $400 Mn allows existing investors to partially exit.
Kunal Shah steps down as CRED CEO to become global head of WhatsApp at Meta.
Miten Sampat, CRED's chief strategy and finance officer since 2020, is appointed interim CEO.
CRED also announces its 5th ESOP buyback and secures a payment aggregator licence from RBI.

The deal is the largest round of the year for Indian startups.
Meta gets a minority stake without access to CRED member data.
Early investors like Peak XV Partners, Ribbit Capital, RTP Global, and Tiger Global are expected to see major returns in the secondary sale.
CRED is preparing for an eventual IPO, and the board is reviewing leadership structure.

CRED is a members-only club for creditworthy individuals, requiring a credit score of 750 or more.
It offers services including credit card bill payments, UPI payments, lending, insurance, wealth management, commerce, and merchant services.
CRED has subsidiary apps: Cash by CRED (loans), Kuvera (wealthtech), and Garage (lifestyle).
Its feature Surplus is invite-only and moves idle bank cash into low-risk liquid funds.
CRED processes over 40% of India's credit card bill payments.
It has managed lending assets of ₹24,000 Cr and annual revenue of about ₹3,200 Cr ($325 Mn).
CRED achieved its first profitable quarter in 2026.

Funds will be used to scale products like Cash by CRED, Kuvera, and Garage with new features.
CRED is preparing for an eventual IPO, and the board is reviewing leadership structure.

Meta (lead) — Global technology company investing as a minority investor with no access to CRED member data.

Customers: Affluent credit card users and consumers seeking financial products
How it makes money: A consumer fintech platform that monetizes through financial products and category expansion
What sets it apart: Targets a harder-to-reach, higher-value customer segment rather than mass-market fintech users