Meet Niraj Bhatia | Philanthropist, Tech Investor, Film Producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Niraj Bhatia and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Niraj, Let’s talk about principles and values – what matters to you most?
The core value that matters most to me is kindness; taking care of your fellow human beings. I try to implement that principle into all my businesses and investments.

For example, I am President and CEO of Om Films (www.om-films.com). I want to use art and media to inspire and influence change. I have executive produced multiple award-winning films; Many of which accomplish social education, cultural exploration and exposure to diverse environments and points of view.

I also founded a navigation app called SIRCA (www.sirca-nav.com) and our motto is to “navigate with purpose”. We tie social impact causes to features within the app. Depending on current events we help users find important locations to ensure positive change. For example, during elections users can find and navigate to their assigned polling stations; during specific high infection seasons we help users locate the nearest vaccination centers; every few months we feature an easy list of local black owned businesses and direct traffic there.

What I’m most passionate about is the charity work through my foundation (The Niraj Bhatia Foundation) which has 4 facets: Water, Food, Education and Self Empowerment. The organizations we choose to support align with this ethos and we try to work closely not just by providing monetary support but also fostering new relationships with organizations within our network. Water and Food is essential to survival and The Niraj Bhatia Foundation wants to take our work a step further by closing the gap with education and self-empowerment for those that truly need it.

I also want to empower the next generation with knowledge and skills so that they can further contribute to their community as they grow.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Since I was a kid my dad, who built his own successful business, always encouraged me to take calculated risks. Ask questions, keep learning, make a strategy and then just go for it! I let that ideology permeate most of my business decisions and investments.

I was able to get to where I am today business-wise because my strength is recognizing what people will connect with. What will move them. I am naturally an empath and I use it as strength to recognize projects and ventures that will relate to people and really speak to them.

But I also have to give credit to just pure gut instinct. I usually am able to make decisions on the spot and so far they’ve turned out to be great investments.

I have several different businesses so there were different approaches behind each one.
For example with Om Films, I grew up watching a lot of Bollywood films and international films and I loved the diverse storytelling and artistic process that exposed me to different perspectives of culture, experiences, emotional connections and critical thinking. I thought starting my own production company would be a powerful vehicle to tell the stories that inspired people to connect, think, converse and take action.

With SIRCA Navigation, I was always a tech guy. I built my first computer when I was 15. Technology is one of the biggest assets we have to push the world forward through impact and change.
I saw the space of navigation and saw it was very monopolized. There was potential for a competitor to come in with a different perspective and that’s exactly what I did.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I own a few restaurants in Dallas so I have to shoutout Musume, Chopshop, and Wine a Little! I also invested in Vegan Vibrationz as I wanted to support black-owned businesses in my community; they make amazing food and are growing! They have moved from food truck to opening a location at Legacy Food Hall!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to dedicate my shoutout to my amazing parents who not only taught me the caring and selfless side of life, but led their lives by this mantra and showed me the world can be a better place by being a positive example to others around you.

Website: www.thenirajbhatia.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenirajbhatia/

Other: Going live on January 1st 2023: www.thenirajbhatiafoundation.com Films: www.om-films.com IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2371901/?ref_=nm_mv_close