Afer*Nova was founded by Detina Zalli, a pre-eminent scientist who as a young teen escaped war-torn Albania during a civil war. It is with those roots that she hit upon using the Albanian word ‘afer’ which means ‘near to’ or approaching something.

During a conversation she had with a recent Nobel Laureate, they ended their chat about Afer*Nova by kicking around ideas for a word to combine with ‘afer’. He suggested ‘nova’. It would be difficult to turn down a reasonable suggestion from a Nobel winner, but since Afer*Nova was ideal no such risk was taken.

Thus, Afer*Nova means:        Nearer to the Stars

Add on trivia, not nearly as interesting:  co-founder Tom McGuffey suggested the Afer*Nova ‘star’ be used in the middle of the company name.