Nova, the leader in social display and creative automation for digital advertising, today announces the appointment of Matt Crenshaw as Chief Executive Officer. Crenshaw, a digital media and advertising veteran, has served as the company’s President for the past year since joining in 2021. He brings over 25 years of experience in the advertising industry, including executive and management positions at Outbrain, Discovery Communications, and HowStuffWorks, which was acquired by Discovery.
Crenshaw succeeds Kunal Gupta, who founded the company 15 years ago (originally as Polar). Gupta will continue to serve in an active board role, focusing on strategic long-term initiatives including mergers and acquisitions, and remains a significant shareholder.
“Matt is the right leader to guide Nova during this next chapter of growth. His leadership experience within all major segments of the industry is an asset for our clients, our team and our business,” shared Kunal Gupta. “Having worked side-by-side with Matt over the past several years, my confidence could not be higher in him as the next CEO for Nova.”
In addition to Crenshaw’s appointment, Nova has additional executive updates:
Leah Malone will be expanding her role as Chief Revenue Officer, managing all business lines and go-to-market execution across the company’s global portfolio. Malone joined Nova in early 2021 from Foursquare.
Andres Moron has been hired as Chief Financial Officer, leading strategy and operations in addition to company finances. Moron joins Nova from podcast company WaitWhat, and previously held senior roles at Sony Music, Quartz, and Spongecell, which was acquired by Flashtalking.
Carlo Barrettara, a company co-founder, has been appointed Executive Vice President of Technology, overseeing all product development as the company increases its investments in technology and expands its software platform.
Nova was originally founded as Polar, offering branded content software for publishers including Gannett, the Telegraph, News Corp, and NBC. Polar then pioneered the Social Display category in 2017, providing software that publishers have used to drive over $100M in incremental, direct-sold revenues. In 2020, the company expanded to work with leading agencies and ad technology partners including MiQ, IPG, Vici, the Trade Desk, and Yahoo. In 2022, the company rebranded as Nova, launched the industry’s first creative automation tools for social CTV, and ran 5,000 campaigns in Q4 2022 alone for brands like Microsoft, Amazon Prime, Uber, Lego, Harley Davidson and Exxon Mobil who rely on Nova’s social ad products to drive greater efficiencies and performance in digital advertising.
Nova continues to grow amidst challenges in the overall advertising market by adapting to the rapidly changing needs of both agencies and publishers. “Our partners are looking for ways to do more with less, especially in this economic climate. Nova is focused on delivering more automation, optimization, and creative tools than ever before. I’m excited to build on our mission, making it as easy as possible for brands to deliver the best advertising creative across every digital channel,” said Crenshaw.
“Nova is in a unique position to capitalize on one of the biggest trends in digital advertising, making it possible for advertisers to take advantage of a growing number of channels,” said Brooke Ablon of Fort Point Capital. “Working closely with Matt, Leah, Andres, and Carlo, we have the senior leadership team in place to build on what Kunal has created over the past decade to help fully realize Nova’s potential long-term.”
