Queens Tech Corner: Om Kundu of SaveAway
It’s Queens Tech Corner time! The Queens Tech Corner is a regular segment on our Queens Chamber social media channels where we shine the spotlight on tech entrepreneurs doing exciting things right here in Queens.
This month’s featured tech entrepreneur is Om Kundu.
Om Kundu is the CEO and Founder of SaveAway, a fintech platform that offers consumers a "Save Now, Pay Later" option that lets people save for an item in incremental payments over time. To learn more, go to https://saveaway.net/.
How did you personally get your start in tech?
Growing up in the outskirts of Kolkata during the '80s-'90s involved moments of exhilaration, navigating a world with rotary telephone booths and HAM radios. Despite the challenges, luck and persistence led to a one-way ticket to study math and computer science at Stanford. Over two decades, the journey has been at the intersection of retail commerce and fintech. SaveAway, in contrast to impulse-driven transactions, aims to actualize a world where the windshield is opened up, allowing users to peer into the canvas and set important goals. With the #saveaway toolbox, rooted in behavioral science, users can make better purchase decisions and fulfill them without the risk of credit turning into debt.
What connection do you and your team have to Queens?
From having had my start in New York two decades ago working in Long Island City, to SaveAway being selected by the NYCEDC Founder Fellowship by the Tech Incubator at Queens Chamber, and most recently selected by them and Accompany Capital among those shortlisted for the “TechImpact Startup Competition,” nothing has felt like home to put forth our best than “The World’s Borough” that is home for us in Queens.
Why are you excited about the future of tech in Queens? What is the best thing about working in and around Queens?
We love that many of our earliest users, partners, and neighbors from meet-ups in Queens have seen the joy that social commerce can be through SaveAway. It is also a privilege to see SaveAway increasingly become a part of the fabric interwoven with the wellness of the community, and with the help of the leadership of the Queens Chamber of Commerce, we hope to collectively be the change we seek in the world.
