Sri Lankan entrepreneur Lilan Dayananda is among 300 young entrepreneurs, leaders, influencers, and trailblazers across the Asia-Pacific region selected by Forbes for its ninth edition of the “30 Under 30 Asia” list. All individuals on the list are under 30 and are leading the transformation of industries while finding innovative ways to navigate new business realities. Now in its ninth year, the Asia list is part of the global expansion of the Forbes 30 Under 30 franchise, which started over a decade ago.

Lilan Dayananda is the co-founder and CEO of Elzian Agro and was among the top ten Youth Social Entrepreneurs at the Global-South Development Expo 2022, recognized by the United Nations Youth Envoy’s Office, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and UNDP Youth Co:Lab. He is also a Commonwealth Youth Awardee for excellence in development work in 2022 and was nominated for the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust Youth Award. Additionally, he was recognized among the top 100 meaningful business founders in 2023 by Ernst & Young (EY), Hogan Lovells Global Law Firms, and Babson College, along with the Meaningful Business Community.

He holds a Business Management (Special) Degree from the University of Kelaniya, is reading for his Master's Degree at Wayamba University, and is an ALS Public Policy fellow at the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago and an Anubhav fellow at the Indian School of Public Policy. He has also completed the Stanford Seed Spark Program at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Since 2021, his social initiative, Elzian Agro, has continuously conducted research and developed validated innovative solutions for climate-smart, data-driven precision agriculture, regenerative agriculture, biodiversity restoration, analog forestry, and agroforestry. His aim through this initiative is to provide effective, sustainable solutions to food security in all its forms.