Rent a Tree, an agri-startup from Kochi, provides mango trees for lease across India

Discover Rent a Tree, an innovative startup leasing mango trees across India, offering fresh Alphonso mangoes without the upkeep hassle.

Kochi-based entrepreneur Umesh Damodaran ran an edu-tech startup in Bengaluru from 2018 to 2023, constantly shuttling between the two cities. During one of his travels, he came across a few export-quality Alphonso mangoes in Palakkad, Kerala, which he happily took to Bengaluru, distributing them to his teammates and neighbours. Impressed by its taste and texture, one of Umesh’s neighbours asked if he could bring some more after his next trip. Since he travelled frequently on this route, he agreed to fetch some more.

One day, the neighbour asked him whether they could have all the yield from a single tree. This question sparked the idea for Rent a Tree, a startup that provides mango trees for lease with ownership over the harvest. “That family became our first customer. We were not aware of the commercial viability of this idea. But we soon realised, with us, each customer had a story behind their produce, and enough fruits for themselves and to gift others,” says Umesh, who heads the 10-person operation.

Umesh Damodaran | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Managing around 250 acres of Alphonso mango farms spread across Ratnagiri in Maharashtra, Dindigul in Tamil Nadu and Palakkad, Rent a Tree serves customers who want to lease the mango tree variety, without the hassle of tending to it. Clients pay for the trees in advance via the Rent a Tree website, where they can create an account and choose trees from three categories based on production capacity: base (30 to 50 kg yield), standard (45 to 75 kg yield) and max (60 to 90 kg yield). The platform updates the customers about the tree’s status two to four times a month.

Umesh harvesting mangoes from the trees | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

The harvest window lasts four months and varies according to the region. In Palakkad, mango picking begins in February, and in Tamil Nadu, the fruits are available till June. During this season, produce is harvested every two weeks, following which the fruits are parcelled to customers across the country. Currently, 160 customers have rented them, with the price of the trees starting from ₹10,300, which increases as the harvest window approaches. They have currently capped the number of rentable trees at 200.