Nicky Goulimis, a Stanford graduate student and former Bain & Company consultant, faced an unexpected hurdle when she moved from London to the U.S. in 2014: despite her strong credit in the UK, she struggled to access basic financial services in the U.S. due to her lack of local credit history. Her experience mirrored that of many international students and immigrants at Stanford, including Loek Janssen and Endeavor Entrepreneur Misha Esipov. In shared frustration, the trio partnered in a class research project to better understand the difficulties of immigrant workers. Their research brought to life Nova Credit. 

For Nicky, Nova Credit’s mission is deeply rooted in her personal story. Coming from a Greek family and witnessing her father build his own software company in the UK, Nicky developed a passion for supporting immigrant families and helping them achieve their dreams. Working with some of the top credit card issuers in the US, Nova Credit has raised over $112M. Nova Credit was also recognized as Forbes 2024 Best Startup Employer.  

Building on her initial fintech experience, Nicky co-founded Tunic Pay, a company dedicated to protecting consumers from scams. In addition to preventing fraud, Tunic Pay is exploring ways to help scam victims recover their lost funds, aiming to create a safer financial environment for everyone. Her innovative approach has earned her recognition including Sifted’s “19 payments startups to watch, according to VCs,”

Nicky remains engaged with Greece’s entrepreneurial ecosystem through Angel Investing, maintaining a strong connection to her roots despite living abroad: “I consider myself privileged to still get to engage a lot in Greece despite not living there full-time.”