WRITTEN BY: PARINITA GUPTA
(June 21, 2023) Being brought up in an Army family, Vinod Khosla was nudged into the direction of joining the forces by his father. But driven by his passion for technology, the entrepreneur ventured into establishing Khosla Ventures, a company dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs in developing ground-breaking, technology-driven enterprises. The firm specializes in investing in innovative sectors like biomedicine and robotics, exploring experimental technologies with the potential to make a significant impact.
“By backing businesses that provide education loans or distribute solar panels in villages, we want to show that commercial entities can better help people in poverty than most non-profit charitable organizations,” said the billionaire venture capitalist.
Vinod Khosla
With a diverse portfolio of businesses under his leadership, Vinod recognized the importance of giving back to his community. In addition to serving as the honorary chair of ‘DonorsChoose’ San Francisco Bay Area advisory board, Vinod and his wife Neeru took the initiative to establish the ‘CK-12 Foundation’. The foundation’s mission is to create open-source textbooks and reduce the financial burden of education, not only in the US, but globally as well. Embracing the philosophy that continuous improvement and iterative processes are crucial for long-term success, the CK-12 Foundation focuses on promoting a culture of learning.
“CK-12 is committed to providing free access to open-source content and technology tools that empower students as well as teachers to enhance and experiment with different learning styles, resources, levels of competence, and circumstances, “informed Neeru Khosla.
Vinod Khosla with his wife Neeru Khosla, co-founders of CK-12 Foundation.
Vinod and Neeru, along with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and filmmaker George Lucas had also joined ‘The Giving Pledge,’ agreeing to donate half of their estimated $1.4 billion fortune to charity. They are donors to the Wikimedia Foundation and Vinod was also a recipient of the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2021, the Global Indian made a generous contribution to support the importation of oxygen for hospitals in India. Vinod intends to establish a venture capital fund that will primarily invest in companies dedicated to addressing the needs of underprivileged communities in India, Africa, and other regions. These companies will focus on delivering essential services such as healthcare, energy, and education.