# Misha Esipov

> Misha Esipov is the co-founder and CEO of Nova Credit, a San Francisco-based credit infrastructure company that translates international credit histories and consumer-permissioned bank data into underwriting decisions for lenders. Born in the Soviet Union and raised in the US, he founded the company in 2016 out of Stanford GSB after stints at Goldman Sachs, Apollo Global Management and Google. Nova Credit closed a $35M Series D in October 2025 led by Socium Ventures.

- **Role:** Co-Founder and CEO at Nova Credit
- **Organizations:** Nova Credit, Forbes Finance Council
- **From:** Soviet Union
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.S., Mathematics and Finance, New York University, M.B.A., Stanford Graduate School of Business
- **Known for:** Raised $159M+ across four rounds for Nova Credit, American Banker Innovators of the Year, Forbes Fintech 50

## Career timeline

- **1990** — Emigrated from the Soviet Union to the United States at age 3 with his parents
- **2009** — Joined Goldman Sachs, working on M&A and corporate finance
- **2012** — Joined Apollo Global Management as a private equity investor
- **2014** — Enrolled at Stanford Graduate School of Business
- **2016** — Co-founded Nova Credit out of Stanford GSB; joined Y Combinator
- **2019** — Launched Credit Passport and expanded international bureau coverage
- **2020** — Closed $50M Series B led by Kleiner Perkins
- **2022** — American Banker Innovator of the Year
- **2023** — Closed $45M Series C from Kleiner Perkins, General Catalyst, Index Ventures, Y Combinator
- **2024** — Launched Cash Atlas cash-flow underwriting platform
- **2025** — Closed $35M Series D led by Socium Ventures (Cox Enterprises), expanding into auto and personal loans

## Achievements

- Raised $159M+ across four rounds for Nova Credit
- American Banker Innovators of the Year
- Forbes Fintech 50
- Signed HSBC, American Express, Verizon and other Tier-1 institutions as customers
- Built the Credit Passport product connecting 20+ international credit bureaus
- Grew Nova Credit to ~96 employees across San Francisco and New York

## Latest updates

- **2025-10** — Nova Credit closed a $35M Series D led by Socium Ventures to expand cash-flow underwriting into auto and personal loans.
- **2025-02** — Nova Credit named to the Forbes Fintech 50.

## Links

- Website: https://novacredit.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mishaesipov/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/nova_credit
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jX4RnPi_5mQ
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/novacredit/

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/misha-esipov
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-09