We got tired of watching great businesses lose clients to WhatsApp chaos.
We watched salon owners, clinic managers, and tuition teachers spend hours every day just coordinating bookings over DMs. So we built the tool Sri Lanka was missing — simple, local, and free to try.
The problem
Running a business in Sri Lanka shouldn't mean living in your WhatsApp inbox.
Inbox overload
Every booking is a thread. Confirm the time, re-confirm the date, follow up again when they go quiet.
No-shows with no warning
No deposit, no system, no recourse. Clients forget and you're left with an empty slot and lost income.
Scheduling by notebook
Paper diaries, voice notes, and memory. One mix-up means a double booking and an uncomfortable conversation.
How it started
One conversation. 47 unread messages.
It started with a conversation in 2024. A friend who runs a small hair salon in Colombo showed us her WhatsApp — 47 unread booking messages, all needing a manual reply.
We looked at the tools that existed. Most were built for US or European markets: prices in USD, payment gateways that don't work locally, interfaces that assume your clients use Google Calendar.
So we built our own. We spent months talking to salon owners, tutors, clinic managers, and fitness coaches across Sri Lanka. We asked one question over and over: what would actually make your life easier?
The answer was always the same: something simple, something local, something free to start. That became Dinaya.
“47 unread booking messages. That was the moment we knew we had to build this.”
— The conversation that started Dinaya
The journey
From a WhatsApp screenshot to a product used by real businesses.
Q1 2024
The idea
Started with a simple question: why doesn't a booking tool exist that actually works for Sri Lankan businesses?
Q2 2024
First conversations
Spoke to over 30 business owners — salons, tutors, clinics — and validated that the problem was universal.
Q3 2024
Building begins
The first version of Dinaya took shape: booking pages, PayHere integration, and SMS reminders.
Q1 2025
Public launch
Dinaya went live. Real businesses, real bookings, and real feedback that keeps shaping the product.
Part of the story starts with you.
Create your booking page in five minutes. No card required for the trial.