• Silver Aisle’s Yanika Amarasekera-Siyaguna on her Forbes 30 Under 30 recognition and the startup journey that got her there

Lankan recognition on the international stage always has its own unique feel-good power. In a world where success is often hard-earned and harder to measure, few accolades have come to resonate as widely – or as impactfully – as a place on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. With its reputation for spotlighting young changemakers across industries, the annual Forbes Asia list is a benchmark for ambition, innovation, and influence on a global scale.

Earlier this month, Yanika Amarasekera-Siyaguna was one of three Sri Lankans named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list for 2025, coming in under the Retail and E-Commerce category. The recognition is a significant moment – not just for her personally, but also for the story of Silver Aisle, the lifestyle and gifting platform she built from scratch and steered through the chaos of a global pandemic, political instability, and countless logistical hurdles.

Unpacking the Silver Aisle story

The Sunday Morning Brunch sat down with Yanika for a chat to reflect on this moment of recognition and the broader journey of her platform. Silver Aisle began at the very end of 2019, launching as Sri Lanka’s first online wedding registry. 

Yanika started Silver Aisle at the age of 24 after returning to Sri Lanka post-university. The idea for a wedding registry came from Yanika’s time abroad, where she encountered how commonplace the concept was. 

“In the US and the UK, every wedding has an online registry. It’s almost unheard of not to have one. I always thought it was brilliant – something I’d want to have for myself,” she said. 

She recalled how the concept of registering gifts in a physical store with a scanner had evolved into the seamless digital experience we now take for granted. 

“When I saw that it had transitioned to online registries, I thought it was interesting to have a format that lets you pull from multiple stores. My dad loved the idea too – he and my mum got the usual tea sets and so on when they got married, and this was something he and I always talked about. He actually pushed me to pursue it,” she said. 

But just two months after launching, the pandemic hit. Weddings were cancelled or postponed indefinitely. “For about a month, I didn’t know what to do or how long it would last. Once I realised it was going to be a long-term thing, I launched the gifting side of the business. That will be five years old next month.”

The pivot was born out of necessity – Yanika needed to generate revenue and keep the business afloat. “It started as a temporary thing just to get money in and cover overheads, but it snowballed very quickly. It became more known for the gifting side, and then once the pandemic settled, the registry, which is a free service for couples, also started to grow again.”

Today, Silver Aisle offers a carefully curated platform for both weddings and everyday gifting, ranging from traditional options like cakes and flowers to higher-end experience gifts. “We’ve focused more on experiences, especially with a millennial mindset. People really value things like dining at a nice resort, mixology experiences, or pottery. Young people place more value on that over physical items, and we got an overwhelmingly positive response,” Yanika added.

The Silver Aisle gifting platform is designed to feel sleek and premium, regardless of the price point. “Everything featured is beautiful and stylish. The team and I are really careful about how we curate the products, so no matter which couple uses it, it’s for everyone. And it’s all good quality.”

One of the platform’s more innovative features is its pooled gifting option for higher-ticket items. “If something is over Rs. 40,000, multiple guests can pool in. A loading bar shows the progress, but guests can’t see who contributed what. The couple can see that from the back end, which makes it really easy when they’re sending thank you notes.”

Beyond gifts for weddings, the platform has increasingly leant into gifting for men – an area Yanika saw as underserved. “There weren’t a ton of things for guys in Colombo – shorts, t-shirts, etc. But we have arrack, gin, and mixology, and those kinds of experiences have become extremely popular. We work with the best restaurants and bars. Prices are on the higher end, but we don’t compromise on quality. We won’t work with vendors who don’t have the same ethos.”

This attention to quality extends all the way to how Silver Aisle delivers its products. “Delivery happens in-house. I’m a control freak when it comes to running the business, especially when it comes to quality. 

“For example, a cake from Silver Aisle must always arrive in pristine condition: AC vehicle, not kept too long. When any product is picked up, drivers send us a photo and note. Everything is quality checked again just before delivery, when the driver sends us another photo before handing it over. 

“Everything is delivered in pristine condition. I have very high standards, and so do my customers, and we always make sure to meet these standards,” she said.

Building a 2020s startup

Yanika also shared how building a startup from the ground up demanded wearing many hats, especially in the early days. 

“I used to do a bit of everything – marketing, photography, accounting – it was proper startup life. As I grew, I hired people for key positions. You grow based on how well you hire. You’re only as good as the people you surround yourself with,” she noted.

One concept that has helped her through decision-making is something she came across on a podcast: a concept called a ‘personal board of directors.’ 

“It’s not an actual board, but four or five people whose opinions you really trust – very successful, intuitive people. For me, it was my parents, my husband, and one of my friends. At the start, they were my sounding board – I’d show them ideas, marketing material, and everything else – until I gained confidence and didn’t need to rely on them as frequently.”

With Silver Aisle opening its doors towards the end of 2019, the business has lived through all the many highs and lows of the first half of the 2020s. While the pandemic was a turning point that helped her gifting platform take off, it was not the hardest period Silver Aisle faced. That came during the height of Sri Lanka’s economic crisis. 

“What was very difficult was the ‘Aragalaya.’ Prices were fluctuating all the time, massively. Vendors had to raise prices because of the Value-Added Tax (VAT) threshold. Registry suppliers weren’t producing because of gas, electricity, and import bans – even the biggest vendors just had no stock. Deliveries were hard to do. That was a really tough time,” Yanika said.

Running a business through that level of uncertainty required not just resourcefulness, but resilience. “The biggest challenge has been learning how to persevere. In high school, I learnt how to multitask and in college, I learnt how to work hard, but I don’t think I ever really had to persevere before. 

“In startups, things don’t always move fast. You have long periods of stagnation, then slow growth, then more stagnation. You have to be honest and look at your business and see – does this work or doesn’t it? Sometimes you are on a sinking ship and it makes sense to jump off. But for me, it was just about sucking it up, discipline, and perseverance.”

On difficult days, she leant on her support system. “When times got tough, I’d confide in my parents and my husband. There’s nothing revolutionary about it; it’s showing up and letting discipline take over when motivation isn’t there. Motivation won’t be there all the time.”

Her husband, in particular, played a big role in helping her find her footing as a leader. “I used to find it difficult to have hard conversations with employees and vendors; I’d let people walk all over me. Any kind of confrontation was difficult. My husband helped me through that. Little by little, I learnt how to stand up for myself. I now give myself permission to be assertive and not feel bad about it,” she said.

Creating a platform to be proud of

It’s this journey of ambition, struggle, experimentation, and resilience that has made her inclusion in the Forbes 30 Under 30 list feel all the more validating for her. 

“You have to apply for it; some people might be picked automatically, but most people apply. I filled out the forms in January and forgot about it because it’s such a competitive list. This is all of Asia-Pacific – Asia, South Asia, Australia, and New Zealand; it’s immensely competitive. Then I got an email saying I was shortlisted and they wanted more details, which I put together and shared. I didn’t know I was actually part of the list until it was announced.”

Reflecting on how she felt about being named one of Forbes’ 30 Under 30, Yanika said: “It feels really good to be recognised. When you run a startup, the day in and day out doesn’t feel rewarding, especially in service jobs; they can feel thankless. You try your hardest and often you only hear from people when something goes wrong. 

“It’s also tremendously repetitive. Sometimes you wonder, why am I doing this? During slow months, it’s easy to lose motivation. You start doubting yourself. It’s something every entrepreneur feels. The Forbes 30 Under 30 was a nice validation that I’m on the right track and my gut feeling has been right about certain things. It has given me a sense of deep pride,” she added.

Looking ahead, Yanika is in a season of action. As a founder, she shared that she had grown into a leader who knew her strengths, understood her audience, and was willing to do the hard things, over and over again. 

She now plans to continue Silver Aisle’s growth and expand into new markets while building out more of its experiential offerings. “This year has really been me focusing on what I want to do. The last two years, I felt like I was in a rut. I had all these things I wanted to do and now I’m taking all the action,” she noted in conclusion. 

For more information on Silver Aisle, visit:

Instagram: @silveraisle_gifting, @silveraisle_weddingregistry