Nova Credit

Nova Credit is a credit infrastructure and analytics company that aggregates consumer-permissioned financial data and converts it into risk insights that lenders, property managers and other businesses can use in underwriting and eligibility decisions. It operates as a Consumer Reporting Agency under the U.S. Fair Credit Reporting Act, drawing on integrations with international credit bureaus, domestic bank data aggregators, payroll systems and automated document data — 26 data sources in total according to the company.

The company markets four products on one platform. Credit Passport translates international credit histories into standardized reports usable by domestic institutions, serving consumers who have moved to the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, United Arab Emirates or Singapore with credit history in markets including Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Germany, India, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, the Philippines, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine, the U.S. and the U.K. Cash Atlas performs cash flow underwriting on bank transaction data, categorizing income, assets and expenses, tracking money movement, distinguishing individual from joint accounts, and producing more than 1,000 attributes plus the NovaScore Cash Flow risk score. Income Navigator automates income and employment verification, and Eligibility Compass applies the same data approach to income and asset verification for affordable housing.

Nova Credit states that it has established partnerships with credit bureaus worldwide, forming a marketplace connecting consumers, international bureaus and financial institutions. Named clients and integration partners include Chase, HSBC, Scotiabank, RBC, SoFi, PayPal, MoneyLion, Imprint, MPOWER, Prodigy Finance, Earnest, and the property management and screening platforms Yardi, AppFolio, MRI Software, Entrata, SafeRent and First Advantage; United Nations Federal Credit Union members also use Nova Credit for card and personal loan applications.

Founding story

Nova Credit was founded in 2016 by Misha Esipov (CEO), Nicky Goulimis (COO) and Loek Janssen (CTO), who met at Stanford University, where Esipov and Goulimis were MBA students and Janssen was completing a master's degree at the Institute of Computational Mathematics and Engineering. Esipov immigrated from the Soviet Union at age three in 1990, earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics and finance from New York University in 2009, and worked at Goldman Sachs (2009-2012) and Apollo Global Management (2012-2014) before Stanford; Janssen came from the Netherlands with an econometrics background, and all three had experienced credit access difficulties as non-Americans. The concept originated in a Stanford course, The Lean Launchpad, and evolved through interviews with hundreds of prospective customers. The team concluded that limited credit data was a problem for lenders as well as consumers, and was accepted into Y Combinator's Summer 2016 batch.

Business model

Nova Credit sells data and analytics products to businesses that make consumer credit and eligibility decisions, operating as a Consumer Reporting Agency under the FCRA. It aggregates consumer-permissioned data from international credit bureaus, bank data aggregators, payroll systems and documents, then delivers standardized reports, attributes and risk scores through a single platform integration. Nova Credit handles compliance workflows such as adverse action support and dispute management on behalf of clients, and its services team provides integration support and credit risk advisory.

Nova Credit generates revenue from business customers that consume its credit data and analytics products; Credit Passport is described as its highest revenue-generating product. Specific pricing terms are not disclosed.

Traction

The company reports 26 integrated data sources, more than 7,000 customers worldwide, over $10 billion in credit value unlocked for consumers, and more than 4,000 customers for Income Navigator including Yardi and SoFi. Named users include Chase, HSBC, Scotiabank, RBC, SoFi, PayPal, MoneyLion, Imprint, AppFolio and Yardi. Contrary Research reported total funding of $123.4 million and 133 employees as of March 2025, while Y Combinator lists a team size of 100.

Latest developments

In October 2025 Nova Credit announced a $35 million Series D led by Socium Ventures, a venture firm backed by Cox Enterprises, with participation from existing investors Canapi Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, General Catalyst, Index Ventures, Y Combinator, NAVentures (National Bank of Canada's corporate venture arm), Harmonic Growth Partners, Radiate Capital and Gaingels; proceeds are earmarked for the Nova Credit Platform's infrastructure, analytics and compliance capabilities. Shortly before, the company announced that Chase, PayPal and Yardi would deploy Cash Atlas across lending and tenant screening operations. It also added Gene Ludwig and Nichole Mustard to its board, was included in the 2025 Forbes Fintech 50, and was named to the 2026 Best Places To Work Awards.