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CRED's Kunal Shah to join Storyboard18's Global Pioneers Summit in March
The Global Pioneers Summit 2025 unites top innovators and decision-makers to explore disruptive ideas and foster impactful collaborations. Uncover strategies for overcoming challenges, driving innovation, and creating billion-dollar success stories.
Mark your calendars for March 28, 2025. The Storyboard18 Global Pioneers Summit is ready to illuminate the intersecting worlds of creativity, leadership, and innovation. Among the stellar lineup of global trailblazers gracing the event, Kunal Shah, Founder and CEO of CRED, stands out as a paragon of entrepreneurial spirit and transformative ideas.
Kunal Shah: Exemplifying the art of disruption
Born in Mumbai, Shah began working at the age of 15 to support his family during a financial crisis. Balancing work with academics, he pursued a BA in Philosophy at Wilson College. Although he enrolled in an MBA program at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, he dropped out to chase his entrepreneurial ambitions.
His early ventures as a freelance designer and programmer paved the way for PaisaBack, a SaaS platform offering cashback and discounts to retailers. This endeavour laid the foundation for FreeCharge in 2010, a digital payment platform that disrupted India's fintech landscape. Snapdeal acquired FreeCharge in 2015, and Shah stayed on to oversee its operations before eventually exiting in 2016. By 2017, Axis Bank took over FreeCharge, solidifying its legacy as a transformative player in India's e-commerce ecosystem.
In 2018, Shah launched CRED, a members-only app designed to incentivize timely credit card bill payments through rewards. With a user base exceeding 5 million and handling 20 percent of all credit card transactions in India, CRED quickly ascended to unicorn status, becoming the second-fastest startup in the country to achieve a valuation exceeding $1 billion. Beyond CRED, Shah has cemented his role as a mentor and advisor, serving as a part-time partner at Y Combinator and an advisor to Sequoia Capital.
Storyboard18's Global Pioneers Summit 2025 is a celebration of trailblazers and their ideas. The exceptional line-up of speakers includes Nestle India's chairman and managing director Suresh Narayanan; Prabha Narasimhan, MD and CEO, Colgate-Palmolive India; Piyush Pandey of Ogilvy, Prasoon Joshi, Chairman of McCann Worldgroup Asia Pacific and CEO & CCO, McCann Worldgroup India; Ogilvy’s Global CEO Devika Bulchandani; Sir Martin Sorrell of S4 Capital; and WPP's Chief AI Officer Daniel Hulme. With cutting-edge conversations and panels featuring experts from across industries, the summit promises to deliver actionable insights and inspiring conversations.
The Global Pioneers Summit 2025 is more than just an event; it’s a movement aimed at fostering dialogue, celebrating ingenuity and transformative creativity, and building connections that transcend borders. Whether you’re a decision-maker, creative leader, visionary entrepreneur or a learner, this summit is your gateway to understanding how pioneering ideas can shape a better future. Join us in March 2025 and become part of a narrative that celebrates the extraordinary power of creativity.
SPOTLIGHT
At the Storyboard18 DNPA Conclave 2025, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw spotlighted the critical role of traditional media in an evolving digital landscape. He emphasized that such gatherings can aid the govt in formulating more effective policies for a balanced and sustainable media ecosystem.
Read MoreIN PHOTOS: At Global Pioneers Summit, visionaries chart the future of business and creativity
From the chiefs of Nestle, Diageo, Colgate, PepsiCo, Zetwerk and CRED to AI visionaries, marketing mavens, top creators, ad legends and leading global agencies' CEOs, the brightest minds converged at the Storyboard18 Global Pioneers Summit for an action-packed day of meaningful dialogues on creativity, commerce and culture.