- Nova Credit ― a premier cross-border consumer credit reporting startup ― announced it has raised $50 million in equity financing led by Kleiner Perkins
Nova Credit ― a premier cross-border consumer credit reporting startup ― announced it has raised $50 million in equity financing led by Kleiner Perkins. Canapi Ventures and existing investors Index Ventures, General Catalyst, and Nyca Partners also joined the round. And Sound Ventures, a venture capital fund founded by Ashton Kutcher and Guy Oseary, also participated in this round with support from baseball star Alex Rodriguez and U2 guitarist the Edge. With this round of funding, it will significantly expand Nova’s global reach and mission to support newcomers from around the world.
Immigrants are known for driving 55% of U.S. population growth, a figure which is projected to grow to 80% by 2050. And Nova Credit is building the future of global finances by enabling these newcomers to share international credit history from 11 countries, including Australia, Canada, India, Mexico, and the United Kingdom with banks, lenders, and telecommunications companies.
“The world has become increasingly globalized, with people moving around the world at an accelerating rate, yet credit history has been trapped within national borders. Nova Credit is changing that by enabling millions of newcomers who have hard-earned credit abroad to access financial services more equally in the U.S.,” said Nova Credit CEO Misha Esipov. “Migration is an incredibly vulnerable period of transition and through the Credit Passport we’ve made that experience more safe and welcoming. Nova Credit believes in a world beyond borders to enable newcomers to arrive and thrive.”
Through its Credit Passport technology, Nova Credit translates foreign credit data into a U.S.-equivalent score and report in a format familiar to American underwriters. Plus Nova Credit’s real-time delivery of this data enables financial institutions to instantly serve newcomers to the United States faster and more fairly. Newcomers who apply for credit products powered by Nova Credit technology are able to get approved for products such as credit cards and loans, instantly.
“Credit is fundamental to economic success, but today’s systems and infrastructure have not kept up with an increasingly mobile world. Nova Credit is democratizing access to credit globally and we’re delighted to lead the Series B,” added Kleiner Perkins partner Ilya Fushman.
Nova Credit was founded by Misha Episov, Nicky Goulimis, and Loek Janssen. Episov was born in Russia and immigrated to the U.S. after the fall of the Soviet Union. Goulimis received her degree from the University of Cambridge in English Literature and Management Studies before attending the Stanford Graduate School of Business where she received her MBA. And Janssen met Misha and Nicky while studying for his Masters of Computational Mathematics and Engineering.
At Stanford, they all spent a few months interviewing people about their experience with financial services and quickly spotted a trend. About half of the graduate students at Stanford were international and nearly 100% of this half had a terrible experience with credit.
“We’re thrilled to participate in Nova Credit’s Series B round. In a competitive financial services industry with shifting demographics, developing a strategy to attract the growing newcomer segment has become a strategic necessity for banks to defend and grow market share. Nova Credit stands out as the only enduring solution to financial access for the millions of newcomers who come to the U.S. each year. They’ve assembled an exceptional, mission-driven team that has what it takes to bring systemic change to life,” explained Canapi Ventures managing partner Gene Ludwig.
