A secure digital-credential platform connecting universities, students, and employers to end diploma fraud, piloted at Georgetown and named one of Poets & Quants' most disruptive MBA startups of 2023.
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Credential fraud is a growing problem, with officials and job candidates falsifying education credentials from prestigious institutions. Reservoir set out to fix it, but the founder had only a vision, initial branding, and early funding, no product. Building a secure, three-sided platform meant hard calls on mobile-versus-web, onboarding, and data, and Reservoir needed a partner to make them and build it.
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Reservoir set out to eliminate credential fraud through secure authentication, serving universities that need streamlined credential management and students who need verified, shareable digital diplomas. When OAK’S LAB began, Reservoir was a pre-product startup with only founder James Gabriel Azar’s vision and initial branding.
James had secured early funding but needed a software partner to turn the vision into a product that could gain traction, and to navigate the security and onboarding complexity of a multi-sided credential platform. He brought in OAK’S LAB for end-to-end product development.
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The mandate was to build an entire platform from nothing: admin tools for universities, a secure app for students, and verification for employers, while resolving the key questions, whether to prioritize mobile or web for security-conscious US users, how to balance university and personal email onboarding, and how to collect data that serves both verification and alumni outreach.
It all had to meet strict security requirements without making onboarding painful.
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Beginning with a comprehensive discovery phase and a founder visit to Prague for alignment, an integrated team of Product, Design, and Tech Leads, two engineers (one mobile specialist), and QA built three interconnected products over a four-month, sprint-based cycle with continuous stakeholder feedback.
Specialized interfaces for IT, registrar, and alumni-relations teams, with bulk credential publishing via spreadsheet import that removes substantial manual work from the registrar’s office.
Secure iOS and Android apps with identity verification, credential storage, and time-limited sharing, built mobile-first for the US market.
A web-based viewer that lets employers verify shared credentials through the secure platform.
Enterprise-ready foundation. Delivered a complete three-product ecosystem ready for institutional adoption.
First enterprise client. Georgetown University identified as a key pilot customer.
Partnership continued. Reservoir returned for enterprise features (2FA, SSO) and SOC 2 compliance preparation, supporting the founder’s enterprise sales efforts.
Built to scale. High Figma-to-code accuracy created a clean, scalable foundation for future development.
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“OAK’S LAB helped turn my vision for a B2B2C platform into a crisp MVP. They dug into the why and the user experience, broke the work into the right components, and built it using modern technologies. They communicated clearly and delivered on time and on budget. What stood out most was their problem-solving and unwavering focus on outcomes. Their work met expectations and set us up for the next stage.”
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