Kunal Shah-led CRED acquires Kuvera in cash & stock deal

Kunal Shah-led fintech CRED has announced the acquisition of Kuvera, an online wealth management platform, in a mix of cash and stock deal. This is the fifth acquisition by Shah-led unicorn startup so far and the second in the past year. It also marks CRED's entry into the wealth management segment.

CRED founder Kunal Shah says Kuvera will soon be a part of the company. "At CRED, we build good habits by making mundane chores less boring for the 1% - whether it’s paying bills or managing cars. Because when it comes to wealth, consistently doing the right thing is more effective than chasing momentary highs,” Shah writes on microblogging platform X.

He adds CRED now has a new partner "whose alignment with these values has resulted in one of India’s most trusted mutual fund investment platforms. Kuvera - soon to be a part of CRED - has built a loyal community of affluent investors by making the powerful tool of compounding delightful and easy to use."

Kuvera founder and CEO Gaurav Rastogi says he's excited to join CRED to work towards a "joint vision of transparency, investor trust, and long-term wealth creation". "A shout out to the team - past & present, specially Neelabh, @sau_pan and @suraj99p for making this possible. And thank you to the lakhs of #HappyKuverians. Every feedback, every cheer, every share and all your encouragement has helped us get to where we are," Rastogi wrote on X.

Kuvera was founded in 2016. It's a platform for mutual funds, stocks, fixed deposits, and US stocks, and claims to have an average SIP size is over ₹5,000, which it says is double the industry average. Despite the acquisition, Kuvera will continue to operate "independently", with founders and teams working autonomously. However, teams at CRED and Kuvera will work closely with each other to scale operations and network.

CRED is a members-only club that rewards individuals for their timely credit card bill payments by providing them with exclusive offers and access to premium experiences. It started as a credit card bill payment platform but has since expanded its bouquet of offerings, including services like CRED Cash—an instant, three-step personal credit line, and CRED RentPay—which allows members to put their monthly rent on their credit card instead of cash.

It also allows credit card users to manage multiple cards along with an analysis of their credit score. Members with a high Experian or CRIF score are eligible for exclusive rewards upon payment of their credit card bills through the app. The platform is also equipped with the CRED protect feature, which is an AI-backed system that keeps track of the credit card payment journey.