The Startup Turning Fruit Trees Into Family Legacies: How Saurabh Gupta’s GrowUp My Tree Is Rooting A Green Revolution

Through its Tree Partner Programme, the purpose-driven startup aims to reconnect urban families with farms, food and the trees that sustain them.

For most urban families, fruit arrives at home neatly packed in a bag. It is washed, cut and served—but the farm behind it often remains invisible. People know what they are eating, yet rarely know where it was grown, who cared for the tree or what happened before the fruit reached their kitchen.

Saurabh Gupta, founder of the startup GrowUp My Tree, believes that distance between families and farms is worth closing.

Through GrowUp My Tree, Saurabh Gupta is building a startup model that enables individuals and families to participate in the cultivation journey of fruit trees without owning farmland or managing agricultural operations themselves. The startup seeks to transform tree planting from a one-day activity into a long-term relationship supported by professional cultivation, monitoring and technology.

At the heart of the startup is the GrowUp My Tree Tree Partner Programme. Under the programme, the startup plants, cultivates and maintains fruit trees while participants remain connected with their associated trees through digital updates, identification details and location tracking.

The startup’s programme can also include photographs from the farm, tree-growth reports and opportunities for participants to visit the farms where their trees are being cultivated.

“We wanted to create a startup model in which the relationship with a tree does not end on plantation day,” says Saurabh Gupta. “Families should be able to stay connected with their tree, understand how it is growing and see the work that goes into bringing food from a farm to their table. That lasting connection is what we are building through the GrowUp My Tree startup.” 

A Startup Bridging the Farm-to-Family Divide

The idea behind the startup emerged from a widening disconnect between consumers and the source of their food. As Indian cities expand, many families have fewer opportunities to experience farms, understand cultivation practices or witness how food is grown.

At the same time, people who want to contribute to a greener future may not have the land, time or agricultural knowledge required to plant and maintain trees independently.

The GrowUp My Tree startup aims to bridge this gap. Its agricultural team manages the plantation, cultivation and maintenance of trees, while participating families receive an ongoing connection to the growing process.

By focusing on fruit trees, the startup makes that connection tangible. A participant is not merely associated with a plantation drive; the family can follow the journey of a living tree and understand the care required for it to grow and produce fruit.

The startup’s present offering has a strong focus on mango trees, including varieties such as Miyazaki, Nam Doc Mai, R2E2, Chiang Mai, Kasturi and American Red Palmer.

Depending on the selected Tree Partner Programme and its applicable terms, participants may receive a share of the produce or choose a buyback arrangement linked to prevailing market prices. The exact benefits, conditions and timelines depend on the programme selected.

For Saurabh Gupta, however, the startup’s proposition extends beyond receiving fruit. It is also about helping people understand the journey behind what they eat.

An urban family can follow a tree’s progress, receive updates from the farm and develop a more direct relationship with agriculture. For children in particular, the startup can turn the process of growing food from an abstract idea into a visible experience.

A Purpose-Driven Startup, Not a Donation Campaign

GrowUp My Tree positions itself as a purpose-driven startup rather than a donation-based environmental organisation. The startup operates through paid services related to plantation, cultivation, maintenance and monitoring.

This distinction is central to the startup’s identity. GrowUp My Tree is neither presenting its programme merely as a donation nor positioning it as a conventional investment product. Instead, the startup is attempting to build a commercially sustainable service around environmental participation, agricultural operations and long-term tree partnerships.

By developing a structured startup model, GrowUp My Tree aims to support the farms and professionals responsible for caring for the trees while giving participating families meaningful visibility into the cultivation process.

The startup’s broader ambition extends well beyond individual tree partnerships. GrowUp My Tree has announced a goal of planting 10 million trees and building a community of one million Tree Partner families by 2035.

The startup has also outlined ambitions related to organic fruit production, reduced carbon impact and the development of a stronger organic-farming ecosystem. These figures represent the startup’s stated future targets and should not be interpreted as achievements already completed.

Can a Startup Make Tree Planting Personal Again?

The larger question driving Saurabh Gupta and the GrowUp My Tree startup is simple: Can a tree become more than something planted and forgotten?

The startup’s answer lies in creating a relationship that continues long after plantation day.

In an increasingly urban India, where the distance between kitchens and farms continues to grow, the GrowUp My Tree startup is working to bring the two closer. Its model combines agriculture, technology and family participation to make the journey of a fruit tree more visible and personal.

For Saurabh Gupta, a fruit tree is not defined only by what it eventually produces. It also represents the family watching it grow, the agricultural professionals caring for it and the connection it creates with the land that feeds them.

With GrowUp My Tree, Saurabh Gupta is betting on a powerful idea: when families stop seeing trees as anonymous parts of the landscape and begin forming personal relationships with them, planting a greener future can become more meaningful—and far more enduring.