About Tej Kohli
Philanthropist, technologist and investor, Tej Kohli has made it his life’s goal to use his success to uplift and improve the lives of others across the globe. Having been quoted stating: “I rebuilt myself into a big success, and I’m determined to use that success to help rebuild others too”, it is clear that he won’t stop until he achieves his goals.
Over his career, Kohli has been a leader within the charity sector. His philanthropic efforts have changed the world in ways he could not have imagined. With various organisations, he has become a leader in the healthcare sector, improving the lives of thousands of people across the globe.
The Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation
The most recent philanthropic effort from Tej Kohli is the Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation. Launching in 2021, Mr Kohli cast his attention towards curing the poorest communities of cataract blindness. Sharing the desire to cure is Dr. Sanduk Ruit, otherwise known as the ‘God of Sight’. Their hope is to screen 1,000,000 patients and to cure at least 300,000 cataract blindness by 2030.
Cataract blindness is a major global issue, affecting over 20 million people worldwide. The condition, which is caused by the clouding of the eye’s natural lens, is responsible for more than half of all blindness cases and is particularly prevalent in developing countries. Fortunately, cataract blindness is also one of the most preventable forms of blindness, as it can be treated with a simple surgery.
The Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation is a charitable organisation that is working to improve access to eye care for people in need. The foundation was established by businessman and philanthropist Tej Kohli and eye surgeon Dr Sanduk Ruit, who share the same passion to fight cataract blindness in developing countries.
One of the key strategies of the Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation is to support the development of sustainable eye care systems in developing countries. This includes training local surgeons and providing them with the necessary equipment and technology to perform cataract surgeries.
In addition to supporting the development of sustainable eye care systems, the Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation also works to raise awareness about the importance of eye health and the availability of treatment for cataract blindness. The foundation conducts public education campaigns and works with governments, non-governmental organisations, and other partners to promote eye health and access to eye care.
The Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation’s work is having a significant impact on reducing the burden of cataract blindness in developing countries. However, there is still much work to be done. Cataract blindness remains a major public health issue, and access to eye care is still limited in many parts of the world. The foundation continues to work towards the goal of eradicating cataract blindness and aims to bring the benefits of modern eye care to the world’s most vulnerable populations.
Overall, the Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation is a shining example of how philanthropy and innovation can work together to make a real difference in the world. The work of the foundation is making a real difference in the lives of millions of people, by improving access to eye care, reducing cataract blindness, and creating a sustainable future for eye care in developing countries.
Moving into developing and remote communities often mean long journeys across treacherous terrain. The Tej Kohli and Ruit Foundation team often travel for days to reach villages in the foothills of the Himalayas. The teams would transport medical equipment to set up screening camps and microsurgical camps.
The screening camps are used to assess the communities eyes and check for diseases such as cataracts. When a patient is found to be suffering from vision loss they are invited to a microsurgical camp to receive free surgery.
After the success in Nepal, the Tej Kohli and Ruit Foundation is readying to move into other developing countries and communities to eliminate poverty. Over 26,000 patients have been cured so far with the foundation has only been active for one year. Dr Ruit and Mr Kohli aim to cure at least 300,000 people of blindness by 2030.
Tej Kohli first encountered the problem of ‘poverty blindness’ after being invited to fund corneal transplants in India. Upon seeing a patient have his blindness cured in a single operation, Tej Kohli decided that he would use his accumulated wealth and expertise to fight this needless and avoidable blindness. Over a decade later, needless blindness remains a major contributor to extreme poverty and gender inequality worldwide, and Tej Kohli is as motivated as ever to lead the charge for a coordinated global effort to end it forever.
For nearly 20 years, Tej Kohli has been active within the healthcare industry, especially in ophthalmology. One of his earlier ventures into this was with the Tej Kohli Cornea Institute, which was founded in 2015. The Institute went on to welcome 223,404 outpatients, successfully operated 43,255 surgical procedures, collected 38,225 donor corneas, utilised 22,176 of those donor corneas, trained 152 clinicians, published 202 papers and gave 892 educational presentations. In 2019 alone, 5,736 patients were cured of blindness. These staggering results were just the beginning of Kohli’s mission to cure blindness.
Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation
The Tej Kohli Foundation
As well as this, Tej Kohli’s not-for-profit Tej Kohli Foundation has become a global centre of interdisciplinary innovation for the development of new solutions. It emphasises upon his ‘Rebuilding You’ philosophy and reflects his desire to use science and technology to rebuild communities and improve lives. With this foundation, he has used his amassed wealth, with the support of his family, to restore the sight of thousands of the world’s poorest people, provide bionic arms to disabled teenagers and provided sustainable food sources to thousands of families whilst continuing to fund scientific research and innovation.
In addition to these efforts, Mr Kohli has also assisted in supporting children in South America. Launching FundaKohli in 2005 meant that Costa Rican children were able to access nutritious food before and after school. Since its launch over 15 years ago, a network of permanent canteens operate across the country to feed hundreds of children. FundaKohli has served thousands upon thousands of meals over the last decade and a half and stands as the longest-running programme under the Tej Kohli Foundation and has no plans to stop anytime soon.
In 2020, Tej Kohli launched a programme in London as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Across London, hundreds of families were becoming unemployed. As a way to support those families, Kohli launched YouCube. Each week through school holidays, Kohli and his team would travel across London boroughs to gift households a box of food along with other educational and other stimulating materials.
Looking forward, Tej Kohli has no plans to stop or reduce the amount of philanthropic support that he offers. Instead, he looks to the future to see what can be achieved and who can be supported next.
Tej Kohli Foundation
Future Bionics
With the interest of technology and philanthropy combined, Tej Kohli has funded several young people to be fitted with life-changing bionic limb prosthetics. As a large investor in the company Open Bionics, Tej Kohli has seen several teenagers and children regain their confidence in life due to being gifted a Hero Arm. The arm can be controlled via electrical signals from the user’s muscles and allows users to control their prosthetic with accuracy and confidence. The Tej Kohli Foundation has documented several stories about those who have received a new chance at life.
Kohli Ventures
Tej Kohli is the founder of Kohli Ventures, a global investment firm that focuses on the areas of technology and real estate. The company is known for its innovative investment strategies, which include a combination of venture capital, private equity, and real estate investments. The firm has invested in a number of start-ups and companies across a range of industries, including technology, healthcare, and real estate. The firm’s real estate investments are mainly focused on the development of commercial and residential properties in key locations around the world using Kohli’s Zibel Real Estate portfolio.
The firm’s objective is to create value for its investors by identifying and investing in high-growth companies and real estate assets that have the potential to generate strong returns.
Using Kohli Ventures, Tej Kohli focuses on equity investments around opportunities that offer exponential growth. The opportunities and ideas are derived from the chain reaction of rapid technological innovation and progression. Kohli Ventures backs growth-stage ventures in the fields of artificial intelligence, robotics, biotechnology, and esports. Kohli Ventures backs tech and biotech companies such as Rewired, Dynacart and Detraxi. Each company offers something that can improve the lives of others.
Kohli Ventures
Zibel Real Estate
On top of his several interests and investments, Tej Kohli also is the owner of the Zibel Real Estate portfolio. The Zibel Real Estate portfolio consists of residential and mixed-use buildings as well as premium residences that are located in areas that showcase commercial and cultural innovation. Zibel also supports Tej Kohli’s broader investment and not-for-profit activities, such as his charitable work.
ZIBEL
One of the key properties featured on Tej Kohli’s Zibel portfolio is Casa Bel Air in the highly sought-after holiday destination Marbella. You can find out more about this property at: https://tkbelair.com.
Career & Passions
Tej Kohli has spent his career constantly staying ahead of trends. This is what he states to be his key to success. Being able to look forward and recognise what comes next has led to a strong and prosperous career. Before beginning his career, Tej Kohli studied at the Indian Institute for Technology. He has always been intrigued by new and emerging technologies. This interest influenced the success of various companies built and founded by Kohli. Included in these companies was Estacion Tramar. This company specialised in online payment gateways. Which was particularly successful at the time due to the growth of the internet in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. Kohli later went on to sell the companies, which ended up being extremely beneficial.
Since this, Tej Kohli has made it his mission to use his wealth and technology to improve human life. He has made a name for himself in sectors such as artificial intelligence, robotics, healthcare, biotech, esports and crypto throughout his career and in some cases, it’s only the beginning.
Mr Kohli has also become a big name within the artificial intelligence sphere. He is a strong advocate for having AI become a useful tool and present within society. For over 15 years, Kohli has backed ambitious entrepreneurs to unlock the improvements that AI has to offer human life. Having already committed over $100 million in investments, he believes that the global AI economy will be worth $150 trillion and will improve society and human life within the next 10 years.
Using his passion and knowledge for technology, philanthropy, biotech and eSports, he regularly writes for his blog. The blog features his opinions and updates about everything that interests him. Writing the blog is an outlet for Kohli to share his views on several topics.
The Offical Tej Kohli Blog
Whilst always striving to do the best and be the best, Mr Kohli has succeeded in various areas. From his early investments in technology to his passion for reducing poverty and curing blindness, it is clear that Kohli is a force to be reckoned with. His knowledge, drive and passion have pushed him to look forward and aim for more – which is not going to stop any time soon.