Elzian Agro, a precision agriculture company based in Sri Lanka, was selected as a finalist in the World Bank Youth Innovation Challenge under the category of water solutions for a new climate reality. Elzian Agro was selected among the top 40 finalists in the World Bank Youth Innovation Challenge. Their excellent innovation was chosen from over 1,600 registrations from 95 countries and more than 300 outstanding applications from 63 countries.
The challenge is organized by the World Bank Solutions for Youth Employment (S4YE). S4YE is a global program that brings together donors, governments, foundations, private sector companies, NGOs, and youth to support catalytic programs that increase the number of young people engaged in productive work.
Elzian Agro is driven by visionary co-founder Lilan Dayananda, who recently earned a distinguished place on Forbes Magazine’s “30 Under 30 Asia” list, along with Pankajan Satkunam, Tharindu Priyankara, and their extraordinary team. They possess a diverse range of skills and expertise that uniquely position them to provide comprehensive support to farmers by offering a monitoring and decision-support system with integrated automation. Their IoT monitoring system ensures high-precision environmental weather and soil monitoring, primarily for industrial and agricultural purposes. Additionally, their automation system, comprising both hardware and software components, manages irrigation and other agricultural operations efficiently.
Elzian Agro was recognized among the top ten youth-driven social enterprises at the Global-South Development Expo 2022 by the United Nations Youth Envoy’s Office, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and UNDP Youth Co:Lab. Elzian Agro was also featured among the Commonwealth Youth Awards in 2022 and was recognized among the top 100 meaningful businesses in 2023 by Ernst & Young (EY), Hogan Lovells Global Law Firms, Babson College, and the Meaningful Business Community.
