Misplaced Pages

Kunal Shah

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Indian entrepreneur and angel investor (born 1983)
Kunal Shah
Born (1983-05-20) 20 May 1983 (age 41)
Alma materWilson College, Mumbai (BA)
OccupationEntrepreneur
Known forFreecharge, CRED
TitleCo-founder of Freecharge
Founder and CEO of CRED
SpouseBhavna Shah

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

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.

Early life and education

Kunal Shah was born and raised in Mumbai, Maharashtra. 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.

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.

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.

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

Other ventures and Investments

Kunal is an angel investor, having invested in over 200 companies including Razorpay, Unacademy, and Bharatpe. 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.

Awards and recognition

  • Fortune 40 under 40 (2016)
  • Comeback award - Economic Times (2016)
  • Economic Times 40 under 40 (2016)

Personal life

Kunal Shah is married to Bhavna Shah, 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.

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

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. "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.
  19. "'Won't earn you reputation but...'Kunal Shah Of CRED Offers Tips". News24. Retrieved 2024-07-22.
  20. "Kunal Shah | SeedToScale". www.seedtoscale.com. Retrieved 2024-07-22.
Categories: