As a 62-year old father of two, the UK-based TejKohli knows the importance of the youth having a bright future. For the past two decades, Kohli has been investing in a number of humanitarian, medical, and technology-driven programmes that will provide children and teenagers with good opportunities for the potential to excel in life.
Using the earnings he made from various industries, such as e-commerce, real estate, and deep tech, TejKohli has set up TejKohli Ventures and TejKohli Foundation to provide funding for some of the projects he is passionate about.
Feeding programmes
When he was living in Costa Rica, Kohli began FundaKohli, which was a feeding programme for the youth. The initiative was done twice a day, before and after school, for children and young families who can’t afford to have a full meal. It started in 2005 and continues to this day, and Kohli notes that some of the children they fed fifteen years ago continue to receive aide, this time with their own children. Eventually, he hopes that while the programme gives a lot of relief, hunger will no longer be a problem for these developing nations.
Arms for the disabled
Kohli’s Foundation is partnered with Open Bionic, and together they created the Future Bionics Program. They provide 3D-printed artificial limbs, known as the Hero Arm, to disabled youth. It is a cheaper alternative to traditional artificial limbs, and also provides a more efficient way for the user to adapt to the machine.
Through this initiative, children are able to have a better chance at living a normal life, as well as pursue their dreams despite their disabilities.
Eradicating corneal blindness
Many of the Foundation’s projects are catered towards Kohli’s mission to eradicate corneal blindness by 2035.
The condition, though non-life-threatening is one that is more prevalent in underprivileged areas, because of the little funding and treatment options available. Transplants are rare and expensive, and early detection is near impossible in these remote villages. This causes an indirect effect to out-of-school youth—children who need to take over the role of the breadwinner as their parent or elder suffering corneal blindness is no longer able to provide for their family.
Together with Dr. SandukRuit, Kohli launched outreach programmes in Nepal to treat corneal blindness in far-flung communities through low-cost but effective surgical methods.
Along with this, the Foundation has also set up the TejKohli Cornea Institute in Hyderabad India as well as the Tej Kohli Cornea Program in Massachusetts for the research and support for medical innovations to help prevent and eventually eradicate corneal blindness.
Kohli has also invested in other deep tech startup firms, and through machine learning and artificial intelligence, he hopes to be a part of various breakthroughs in the environment, genetics, and energy that could shape the way future generations will live.
Through these efforts, Kohli, through the TejKohli Foundation, is looking to technology to not just provide a bright future, but also to save the lives of many of the underprivileged youth.
