Kunal Shah: The MBA Dropout who built a Unicorn Start-Up Worth more than 52000 Crores

Kunal Shah: From working since the age of 15 years to dropping out of MBA, Kunal Shah’s journey to becoming one of India’s most successful entrepreneurs has been anything but conventional. However, it was this unconventional path that led him to found CRED, a credit card payment management platform that has taken the fintech world by storm. By taking an unconventional approach to the credit industry, Kunal Shah has created a fintech unicorn that is transforming the way people manage their credit card payments.

Kunal is a seasoned entrepreneur who also founded Freecharge before founding CRED. CRED is a Bengaluru-based fintech startup that allows its users to make credit card payments through its app while also receiving special deals and other advantages online. Furthermore, CRED has introduced house rent payment options, Rent Pay; flexible credit lines, Cred Cash; and Cred Mint, through which lenders can lend their idle money to borrowers with good credit at 9% APR (Annual Percentage Rate) as of August 2022.

Personal Details of Kunal Shah

Kunal was born in Mumbai, Maharashtra. He completed his BA in Philosophy from Wilson College. He then enrolled in the MBA program at the Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS). But Kunl dropped out of the course midway to pursue his entrepreneurial journey. Kunal, the founder of CRED, began working at the age of 15 to help his family get through financial difficulty. He worked as a freelance designer and programmer while studying for his bachelor’s degree. Kunal served as a part-time partner at Y Combinator from January 2016 to December 2016. For the period of January 2016 to March 2017, he served as Chairman of the Internet and Mobile Association of  India. He has also worked as an advisor for Sequoia Capital. He is currently serving as an advisor of Angle List and Bennett Coleman and Co. Ltd. (Times Group).

The Beginning of the Entrepreneurial Journey

Kunal began his entrepreneurial journey by building a small SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) company named PaisaBack with Sandeep Tandon. PaisaBack was a cash-back and promotional discount campaign platform for shops. PaisaBack eventually turned into FreeCharge in 2010. FreeCharge was acquired by Snapdeal in April 2015 and later by Axis Bank in 2017. Kunal continued to oversee the operations of FreeCharge until his departure in 2016.

The Birth of CRED

Kunal Shah’s idea was to create a platform that offers a simple way for users to manage their credit card payments and rewards, all in one place. He wanted to offer more privileges and benefits to people having good credit scores. Kunal intended to focus specifically on the people, the responsible citizens who pay their taxes on time. He believed that no one had previously solved their problems. As a result, CRED was formed largely to solve the difficulties of taxpayers while rewarding them with enticing rewards. So finally Kunal Shah founded CRED in 2018.

Growth Story of CRED

CRED’s success lies in its focus on delivering a superior user experience. Unlike other payment platforms, CRED is not just a transactional platform but a lifestyle brand that rewards users for good credit behavior. Users can earn rewards points for paying their credit card bills on time and can use these points to access exclusive discounts and deals from partner brands. Some major milestones in the success story of CRED are listed below:

• By 2021, CRED had onboarded over 5.9 million users and processed about 20% of all credit card bill payments in India
• The startup became a unicorn in 2021
• CRED became the official sponsor of the Indian Premier League (IPL) for three years from 2020 to 2022
• CRED’s total revenue grew from 18 crore in FY20 to 95 crore in FY21

Current Success of CRED and Kunal Shah

With its focus on user experience and rewards, CRED is well-positioned to continue disrupting the fintech world and making credit management simpler and more accessible for millions of users. The number of CRED users grew to 11.2 million in FY22 from 7.5 million in FY21. The operation revenue grew more than 4 times to Rs 393.6 crore in FY22 as compared to Rs 88.6 crore in FY21. The startup is valued at 6.4 Billion Dollars (more than 52000 crores) as of June 2022.

Just like his startup, the entrepreneurial might of Kunal is also growing day by day. Kunal is helping the entrepreneurial community by investing in multiple projects such as Go-Jek, Zilingo, Unacademy, Shuttl, Chillr, Innov8, Lifcare, TinyOwl, Spinny, Jugnoo, Mobile Premier League (MPL), Azani, Tapzo, Runnr, Flyrobe, Razorpay, Voonik, TVF, PocketAces, Rupeek, Dil Mil and more. Kunal Shah’s journey to founding CRED is a testament to the power of perseverance and innovation.