WhatsApp's leadership shake-up comes as Meta looks to strengthen its app's already booming presence in India.

Cathcart has overseen Meta's popular messaging platform for nearly seven years - and scaled its private chat functions to more than three billion users worldwide. He said in posts on social media on Monday that while the platform was in "the strongest position it's ever been" it also "felt like the right moment to step back". Cathcart will continue to play a role within Meta's leadership ranks, with Kunal Shah, founder of Indian fintech start-up Cred, taking over as head of WhatsApp. Facebook founder and Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said Shah had created "one of India's most important technology companies" with Cred. He added that the fintech founder "brings the kind of builder mentality and global perspective that will serve him well in running the world's biggest messaging app". "I look forward to working with Kunal to continue to make WhatsApp the best service for billions of people and millions of businesses," Zuckerberg said. Cred, based in Bengaluru, has sought to disrupt the payments sector in India with a "members-only" service that rewards high-earners for timely credit card payments. Prior to founding Cred in 2018, Shah was an investor and advisor to a handful of different start-ups across India and south east Asia, according to his LinkedIn page.