AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 20, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Markaaz, the world's first pre-verified community of businesses, today announced that Sandy Watkins, founder and former chairman of Open Lending, joined their latest Funding Round and will also sit on the company's Board.

Sandy Watkins is a Texas-born savant in the financial services and lending industry. He built Open Lending from two employees up to an Initial Public Offering in 2020. Today, Open Lending, which provides automated lending services to financial institutions, is publicly trading on the NASDAQ.

Markaaz, headquartered in Austin, is the brainchild of its founders and a team who has previously built a series of 'world first' businesses. The company is led by entrepreneurial founder and chief executive officer, Hany Fam, a global fintech leader with over thirty years of experience including, Mastercard, where he previously built Mastercard Track, the world's first and largest global trading platform connecting 286 million buyers and sellers.

Markaaz will soon launch its all-in-one dashboard, allowing small businesses to access all the digital resources, tools, and services they need to succeed.

 "We're building Markaaz because there is nothing like it out there. Small businesses are overwhelmed with the plethora of point-to-point solutions and are looking for a trusted single platform that takes away the significant overhead of all these solutions while at the same time providing a single verification platform," said Fam.

Watkins and Fam connected immediately over the Markaaz vision and mission of being the single platform for small businesses with a monitoring environment that helps enterprise partners connect easily with small businesses and establish more meaningful relationships.

 "When you look at Markaaz, you have to see the holistic picture. The company and caliber of leaders behind it have spent years developing the solution that addresses deep structural inefficiencies in the market. It is the thoughtfulness, from the one-stop shop for small business and the payment roadmap, to the enterprise partnership strategy that convinced me. The sum of its parts is unique," said Watkins.

"We're thrilled to have Sandy on this journey with us," continued Fam. "Sandy has been a great thought partner, and his experience is of great value and inspiration. We are looking forward to working with Sandy as we expand internationally."

For now, you can meet Watkins and the Markaaz team at the Small Business Expo in New York on October 22, where they will co-host a booth with strategic partners, Mastercard and Equifax.

For more information, visit www.markaaz.com 

About Markaaz 
Markaaz is the world's first global platform to connect small businesses and the network of partners that support them. Through the largest and most comprehensive, global, pre-verified Directory of small businesses, an all-in-one Dashboard with integrated tools and resources, and a user experience supported by AI, Markaaz will deliver accessible, affordable, and inclusive solutions to empower small businesses globally starting in the US market. Recognized internationally by the World Economic Forum as a Global Innovator and founded by a team of world-class executives and advisors who have done this before, and in collaboration with strategic partners, Markaaz is driving equitable and inclusive solutions for SMBs around the world. Learn more at www.markaaz.com

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SOURCE Markaaz