Kunal Shah

Kunal Shah
Born	(1983-05-20) 20 May 1983 (age 42)
Alma mater	Wilson College, Mumbai (BA)
Occupation	Entrepreneur
Known for	Freecharge, CRED
Title	Co-founder of Freecharge Founder and CEO of CRED
Spouse	Bhavna Shah

Kunal Shah (born 20 May 1983) is an Indian entrepreneur and angel investor ^[1] known as the co-founder of Freecharge and the founder of CRED, a fintech company valued at around $6.4 billion. ^{[2] [3]}

Shah co-founded Freecharge along with Sandeep Tandon in August 2010 as a financial services company that allowed users to pay bills as well as recharge mobile, broadband, DTH and metro cards. In 2015, e-commerce company Snapdeal acquired Freecharge for ₹2800 crore (US$400 million) in cash and stock. ^[4]

Early life and education

Kunal Shah was born in Ahmedabad and raised in Mumbai, Maharashtra. ^[5] He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Wilson College, Mumbai. Shah later enrolled in a part-time MBA program at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) but dropped out within a few months. ^[2]

Career

In 2010, Kunal co-founded FreeCharge, a digital payments company, with Sandeep Tandon. FreeCharge quickly gained popularity, attracting millions of users. In 2015, Snapdeal acquired FreeCharge for $400 million. ^{[4] [6]}

In April 2018, at the age of 35, he founded CRED with his own capital. CRED is a credit card bill payment platform that rewards users for timely payments. ^[7]

CRED has raised substantial funding from investors including DST Global, Sequoia Capital, and Tiger Global. ^[8] In June 2023, CRED raised $140 million at a valuation of $6.4 billion. ^[9] The company became the official sponsor of the Indian Premier League from 2020 to 2023. ^[10]

Other ventures and Investments

Kunal is an angel investor, having invested in over 200 companies including Razorpay, Unacademy, and Bharatpe. ^{[11] [12]} He has served as an advisor to Bennett Coleman and Co. Ltd. (Times Group) and AngelList. Kunal is also an Independent Director at Syrma SGS Technology Limited and Pine Labs. ^{[13] [14]}

Awards and recognition

• Fortune 40 under 40 (2016) ^[15]
• Comeback award - Economic Times (2016) ^[16]
• Economic Times 40 under 40 (2016) ^[17]
• 97th in the Fintech Top 100 Leaders for 2025 - Fintech Magazine ^[18]

Personal life

Kunal Shah is married to Bhavna Shah, ^[2] who works as a freelance graphic designer. Kunal is known for his active presence on social media platforms, where he often shares insights on various topics including entrepreneurship and consumer behavior. ^{[19] [20]}

As of 2023, Shah's net worth is estimated to be over $500 million. ^[21]

References

1. Maloo, Malvika (29 December 2022). "Kunal Shah, Aman Gupta, Anupam Mittal among most active angel investors". Livemint .
2. iyer, rahul (2024-02-21). "Who is Kunal Shah: CRED CEO & A Tech Enthusiast". Leader Biography. Retrieved 2024-07-22.
3. Jose, Teena (2022-06-10). "CRED Raises $80 Million In Series F Funding". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
4. "Snapdeal Acquires FreeCharge Online Recharge Service". Gadgets 360. 2015-04-08. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
5. "The Life Story of Kunal Shah". Vedaon. 2023-03-12. Retrieved 2024-07-22.
6. "Snapdeal acquires FreeCharge". The Hindu. 2015-04-08. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 2024-10-05.
7. "Meet Kunal Shah: The university dropout who founded CRED; know about his lifestyle, journey, and salary". Financialexpress. 2023-09-13. Retrieved 2024-07-22.
8. "Cred raises $81 million in series C funding at a post-money valuation of $806 million". Financialexpress. 2021-01-05. Retrieved 2024-07-22.
9. "CRED secures $140 million funding in its Series F round at a valuation of $6.4 bn | Startup Story". 2022-06-11. Retrieved 2024-07-22.
10. "JioCinema ropes in 18 sponsors for IPL 2024". The Economic Times. 2024-03-21. ISSN   0013-0389 . Retrieved 2024-07-22.
11. M., Sriram (2021-09-23). "'He is his own ecosystem': Inside Kunal Shah's unique angel investing frenzy".
12. Shrivastava, Aditi; Shaikh, Shadma (2016-08-24). "Sachin Bansal, Vijay Shekhar Sharma and Kunal Shah join hands to back Unacademy, along with Blume ventures". The Economic Times. ISSN   0013-0389 . Retrieved 2024-07-22.
13. Verma, Mansi (2023-09-08). "Cred's Kunal Shah has made angel investments in close to 80 fintechs till date".
14. www.ETHRWorld.com. "CRED Founder Kunal Shah joins board of Pine Labs - ETHRWorld". ETHRWorld.com. Retrieved 2024-07-22.
15. "Kunal Shah - India's Young & Brightest Entrepreneurs in 40 Under 40 2016 - Fortune India". www.fortuneindia.com. Retrieved 2024-07-22.
16. "Comeback Kid of the Year: Kunal Shah of Freecharge". The Economic Times. 2016-09-03. Retrieved 2024-07-22.
17. "Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd". bccl.in. Retrieved 2024-07-22.
18. "Top 100 FinTech Leaders 2025". fintechmagazine.com. Retrieved 2025-03-25.
19. "Watch: Video created by ChatGPT maker OpenAI CEO Sam Altman using CRED CEO Kunal Shah's post". The Times of India. 2024-02-18. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 2024-07-22.
20. "'Won't earn you reputation but...'Kunal Shah Of CRED Offers Tips". News24. Retrieved 2024-07-22.
21. "Kunal Shah | SeedToScale". www.seedtoscale.com. Retrieved 2024-07-22.