Tej Kohli - The Man on a Mission

He is a man who has lived his dreams, and is now working to make dreams come true for hundreds of others. Born on August 17, 1958 to Dr. S M S Kohli and Gurcharan Kohli in New Delhi, the capital of India, Tej Kohli grew up in rather humble circumstances.

But if the conditions in his chilhood were less than ideal, he also proved over time that he was more than an ordinary child. Through hard work and sheer perseverance, he overcame all those adversities and won a place in the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT). He graduated with honors, earning a degree in Electrical Engineering.

The Entrepreneur

Before long, he left India for the land of opportunities, the United States of America, and, soon enough, was on his way to making his fortune. He foresaw the power of the Internet and founded Grafix Softech, one of the first companies which integrated all phases of online brand development.

Grafix created a comprehensive suite of design services, online marketing tools and interactive software, and quickly gained a reputation amongst its clientele by providing a "one-stop" solution for getting a business online successfully.

As e-commerce took rapid srides in the late 1990s, Grafix developed innovative gateway software for e-payments and sales administration. In just a few years, the company became one of the top e-business consulting and Internet marketing firms in the world.

Grafix had a strong customer base in South America, and Mr Kohli decided to move its headquarters to San Jose, Costa Rica, where it continues to break new ground in emerging technologies and new media.

In all this time, Mr Kohli retained his links with his homeland, and, in 2008, Grafix opened its subsidiary, Icronex in Gurgaon, near Delhi, when the company expanded into Asia.

The company most recently announced new software initiatives in the South American online gaming market and introduced the Grafix Visitor Tracker, a sophisticated tracking solution that visualizes users' behavior in real time.

Real Estate

Among his many activities, Mr Kohli has set up Ozone Real Estate, a firm that helps its shareholders take advantage of the real estate boom in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, the two largest emirates of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The company provides services in real estate development, investments, sales and marketing management. It has identified some of the finest real estate properties in the world, including Tameer Towers and A1 Business Tower and is developing Cassi-bay Tower, one of the few freehold properties on Al Reen Island.

Ozone’s agents have extensive experience in providing services in sales, leasing and investments that have provided financial success for many of its clients.

Philanthropy

Today, Mr Kohli is regarded as a very successful international entrepreneur with multiple business interests across the globe in Costa Rica, India, the UAE and America.

But, through all these glitzy years of wealth and success, Mr Kohli never forgot his humble beginnings. He vowed to try and ensure that other children did not have to go through the struggles that he had to endure as a child growing up in India and help as many of them break out of the vicious cycle of poverty that they were caught in. The Tej Kohli Foundation is born out of this determination. It is funded entirely by him and provides education resources for underprivileged children in Costa Rica, providing them an opportunity to develop and realise their innate potential.

In 2010, the Tej Kohli Foundation extended its activities to India, embarking on a corneal transplant program that promises to bring light into the lives of thousands of people in his homeland.