Founders Everywhere: Nikhil Teja Kolli
Nikhil Teja Kolli is the co-founder and CEO of mokSa.ai, an AI powered platform redefining video intelligence for smarter, safer businesses.
Welcome to Founders Everywhere, where we highlight the incredible people behind the companies we’ve backed at Everywhere Ventures, a global pre-seed fund supported by a community of 500 founders and operators.
When Nikhil Teja Kolli moved to the U.S. to pursue his master’s degree, he didn’t anticipate how a part-time job in a liquor store would spark the idea for the technology startup mokSa.ai. After being held at gunpoint twice, yes TWICE, he became deeply motivated to help protect small retail businesses from theft and loss. While managing multiple store locations, he witnessed how frequent and costly shoplifting is, with businesses losing 10-15% of their annual revenue. Realizing the scale of the issue Nikhil began monitoring stores with the help of friends and this led to a dataset of over 20,000 videos documenting shoplifting incidents. With the rise of artificial intelligence, it provided the opportunity to create a scalable surveillance solution for retail businesses.
MokSa.ai is Nikhi’s first company, but entrepreneurship is in his DNA. Growing up in India, he was immersed in his family’s retail business from a young age, often waking up at 3 am to help distribute products. After earning his Master’s degree, he worked as an Quality Manager in the railroad industry before teaming up with Kranthi Mottu, a seasoned software engineer and former Lead Data Scientist at Carrefour, one of the world’s largest retail chains. Together, they’re combining deep industry insight with cutting-edge AI to build mokSa.ai.
What is mokSa.ai’s mission?
We deliver customized video intelligence for any type of retail business. We especially want to help small businesses, as they’re often overlooked and the last to access new technology.
Tell us about some recent milestones that mokSa.ai has crushed.
We’re set to onboard up to 200 new locations in the coming months and have signed an MOU with Global Security Solutions, who will represent mokSa.ai in bringing our technology to large enterprise clients.
What sets mokSa.ai apart?
Our biggest differentiator is our privacy-first AI. We spent two years building a model that ensures there is no facial recognition, just action-based detection based on behavioral patterns. Our technology is now patent-pending in the U.S. and almost approved in Europe.
Beyond loss prevention, we provide operational insights. For example, our system predicts customer counts and helps with employee scheduling, saving on payroll. We also track employee efficiency, provide heat maps, and are rolling out features like food safety, weapon detection, and slip-and-fall detection.
How does mokSa.ai inspire “customer love”?
Our solution works with any existing camera system—no need for replacements or upgrades. By being camera-agnostic, we eliminate the need for additional hardware, keeping upfront costs to virtually zero.
Our technology delivers real-time alerts via a mobile app when suspicious activity is detected. Businesses can choose whether to get push notifications, phone calls, or simply log into the unified dashboard.
Why the name mokSa.ai?
Moksha means liberation in Sanskrit. We are liberating businesses from the burden of theft and loss, and we’re doing it with AI.
Any favorite podcasts?
I really enjoy Naval, a podcast by Naval Ravikant, an Indian entrepreneur, investor, and author.
Fun fact:
I’ve always loved flying and dreamed of becoming a pilot as a kid, but my vision didn’t meet the requirements. Since I couldn’t fly planes, I figured I might as well build them, which led me to study Aeronautical and industrial engineering. While I never ended up building a plane, I did build trains. I also plan on getting my pilot license very soon!
Listen to Aaron Holland with Jenny Fielding on the Venture Everywhere podcast: Swipe, Tap, Attend. Now on Apple & Spotify and check out all our past episodes here!
