Curiosity is the factor that can change your whole life’s dimensions and perspectives. This is what happened with the CRED founder and CEO Kunal Shah. When you will read Kunal Shah Biography, you will get to know that his whole life was driven by his curiosity and the lessons he learned from that. So let’s start the inspirational, curious, and interesting success story of Kunal Shah from the beginning.
Table of Contents
Key Points
- From August 2000 to August 2010, he founded multiple startups including Freecharge.
- Freecharge was acquired by Snadeal for $450 million and then he founded CRED.
Kunal takes a monthly salary of only Rs 15,000 from CRED. He is also working as an active advisor at Times Gropusand AngelList.
Kunal Shah Biography
Kunal Shah was born on 30 May 1979 in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India in a middle-class family which is the actual reason behind where he is today. As I have mentioned before, he used to be a curious kid who wanted to know in deep about everything around him. Somewhere, his curiosity has led him as a successful entrepreneur and one of the reasons for this was being the eldest son of the family as well.
Kunal Shah is the founder and CEO of CRED – a reward-based credit card payment app. He single-handedly built the fintech giant and is still on his path to making it profitable. This is not just about Kunal Shah Cred but about his journey from the age of 16 when he first took charge of his family being an elder child due to a financial crisis in his family. Now in 2023, Kunal Shah age is 44 years.
| Full Name | Kunal Shah |
| Date of Birth | 30 May 1979 |
| Age | 44 Years (As of 2023) |
| Birthplace | Mumbai, Maharashtra, India |
| Residence | Bengaluru, Karnataka, India |
| Father’s Name | Mr. Shah |
| Mother’s Name | Mrs. Shah |
| Wife’s Name | Bhavna Shah (Graphic Designer) |
| Education | B.A. |
| College Name | Wilson College of Mumbai |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur |
| Business Name | Cred |
| Current Position | Founder and CEO |
| Net Worth | Rs 8,500 Crore |
Kunal Shah Education
Kunal was born and raised in Mumbai and also completed his early education in Mumbai. His father used to run a tiny pharmaceutical distribution business in the city. There came a time when his family faced a financial crisis. He then found part-time work for himself and managed it along with his studies. During this time, he sold many CDs, and mehndi cones, did data entry jobs, taught computer science to neighborhood children, and also ran a small cyber café in his house.
To pursue his further education, he attended Wilson College of Mumbai from 1994 to 2000 for his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Philosophy. Later in 2003, he enrolled himself at the SVKM’s Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) to pursue a Master of Business Administration. The main objective behind this step was to learn consumer behavior and marketing which are the two pillars of any business.
At this time, he was already running a small business and had tried many as well. But when he went to college, it wasn’t even close to his expectations, frustrated Kunal Shah dropped his MBA in the middle.
Kunal Shah Family
In Kunal Shah’s family, there are his parents, siblings, and wife. Kunal Shah’s father’s name and mother’s name are not available but his father used to run a small pharmaceutical distribution business while his mother used to work in the insurance sector. Kunal also has a younger brother but his name is not known as of now.
Kunal Shah’s wife’s name is Bhavna Shah and she is a professional graphic designer who works as a freelancer.
Kunal Shah Career
From August 2000 to August 2010, he founded multiple startups and shut them down. Along with money, the most important thing he earned from these startups was learning, because school and college have not taught that to him, so he took it upon himself.
In August 2010, Kunal Shah founded Freecharge and served the company as the CEO. In 2015, Kunal Shah Freecharge was acquired by Snapdeal for $450 Million. It was the biggest e-commerce acquisition of that time.
Apart from that, from January 2016 to December 2016, he worked with the Y Combinator, and as a Chairman of the Internet and Mobile Association of India from January 2016 to May 2017. In January 2017, he joined Sequoia as a global advisor and worked for around 1 year with the venture.
Kunal joined Times Gropusand AngelList as an advisor in 2017 and 2018 respectively and is still being with the firms. Apart from all these, Kunal Shah has invested in around 80 startups (Indian and Foreign) including Razorpay, Unacademy, Jugnoo, Mobile Premiere League, PocketAces, Voonik, Shuttl, Go-Jek, etc.
In April 2018, Kunal Shah founded Cred – a reward-based credit card payment app.
Kunal Shah CRED
Kunal Shah Cred has introduced a reward system for credit card payments. The platform also allows its users to pay their house rent. Currently, Kunal Shah Cred has an active 9+ Million user base and processes 20% of credit card payments in India. When a user makes his/her credit card payment through Kunal Shah Cred, he/she earns rewards in the form of gift cards, access to events, and upgrades from brands like Cure.Fit, Myntra, Diesel, etc. As of 2023, Kunak Shah Creds’ valuation is $6.5 Billion. Ribbit Capital, Peak XV Partners, GIC, Qed Innovation Labs, etc. are the institutional investors of Kunal Shah Cred.
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Kunal Shah Net Worth
The estimated Kunal Shah net worth is approximately Rs 8,500 Crore and possibly more than this as he has multiple assets of earnings. According to one of his media interviews, he takes a salary of Rs 15,000 per month from Cred. But he believes that he can survive on such a low salary because he had sold his previous company Freecharge.
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Kunal Shah Features
Kunal has surpassed a commendable entrepreneurial journey and he did not even attend any business school, so whatever he learned about business, is from the School of Life. And for his ultimate journey as an entrepreneur, he has been featured on various precious lists. So here I am sharing the list of Kunal Shah features below.
- Forbes 30 Under 30 – 2012
- Fortune 40 under 40 – 2015
- Fortune 40 under 40 – 2016
- Economic Times 40 under 40 – 2016
- Comeback Award by the Economic Times – 2016
Check Also: Who Has Been Featured On The Entrepreneur 35 Under 35 List of 2023?
Kunal Shah Social Media
In this Cred founder and CEO Kunal Shah biography, I have shared all the crucial details about the entrepreneur and you might be interested in following him as he is available on various social media platforms including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. where you can find him and can stay connected with him.
Kunal Shah Instagram username is @kunalb11 and he has more than 189K followers on Instagram. His Facebook username is Kunal Shah.
His Twitter handle name is @kunalb11 and he has more than 840.8K Followers on Twitter. His LinkedIn username is Kunal Shah and he has more than 1,037,835 followers and 500+ connections on LinkedIn.
Want To Know: Who has been named to Forbes 30 Under 30 List?
Interesting Facts About Kunal Shah
In this Kunal Shah Cred success story, I have shared all the crucial details about the entrepreneur and thus you must have read up on these facts about Kunal Shah. So here I am sharing some interesting and lesser-known facts about Kunal Shah below.
- Kunal dropped his MBA because he did not find it worthwhile. Nothing was going as per his expectations in college.
- He founded multiple startups in the initial 10 years of his career.
- Kunal Shah Freecharge was acquired by Snakdeal for $450 million.
- Kunal was featured as a Start-up Judge in a web series ”TVF Pitchers”
- He has a massive fan following on every social media platform.
- He has invested in more than 85 Indian and foreign startups including Razorpay, Unacademy, Jugnoo, Mobile Premiere League, PocketAces, Voonik, Shuttl, Go-Jek, etc.
- He takes only Rs 15,000 salary per month from his own company Cred.
- He also works as an advisor at Times Gropusand AngelList.
- He rejected Shark Tank India offer as he does not negotiate on valuation or ownership of the founders. He said ”Shark Tank format doesn’t align with my values so I chose to skip it”
Read Also: Who has been named to Fortune India 40 Under 40?
Final Words
Through this Cred founder and CEO Kunal Shah’s success story, we have learned that your fortune is in your hands, It doesn’t matter what was in your past, you can change your fortune if you have the will. And in this journey of changing fortune, life will be your best teacher who will give you lessons at every turning point.
In this Kunal Shah biography, I have shared all the details about him including Kunal Shah date of birth, Kunal Shah age, Kunal Shah birthplace, Kunal Shah education, Kunal Shah career, Kunal Shah family, Kunal Shah wife, Kunal Shah Freecharge, Kunal Shah net worth, Kunal Shah features, Kunal Shah social media, facts about Kunal Shah, etc.
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Hope this Kunal Shah Cred success story was inspirational for you and the content I have provided was also useful and informative enough for you. Thanks for reading.
FAQs
Which startups did Kunal Shah found?
Kunal Shah founded Freecharge in 2010 and sold it to Snapdeal in 2016 for $450 million. He is also the founder of the fintech company CRED.
Why did Kunal Shah reject Shark Tank?
He rejected Shark Tank India’s offer as he did not negotiate on the valuation or ownership of the founders. He said ”Shark Tank format doesn’t align with my values so I chose to skip it”
Is Kunal Shah married?
Kunal Shah is married to Bhavna Shah who is a freelancer Graphic Designer.
Who is Kunal Shah?
Kunal Shah is the founder and CEO of Indian fintech company Cred. Freecharge was also founded by him and later sold to Snapdeal.
What is Kunal Shah age?
Cred founder and CEO Kunal Shah age is 44 years as of 2023.
