Monarch Tractor receives $61M in Series B funding

Monarch Tractor, maker of the world’s first fully electric, driver-optional tractor announced the successful completion of a US$61M Series B funding round led by Astanor Ventures, one of the world’s leading sustainable food venture firms, with additional individual and independent contributions from CNH Industrial, At One Ventures and Trimble Ventures.

With this most recent round of financing, Monarch Tractor plans to scale its sales, service, and manufacturing footprint; expand its product offerings and launch international pilot test programs.

“Fruit and vegetable farmers have long been ignored in the electrification and automation movement, and that’s why the Monarch platform is built with them in mind,” said Monarch Tractor co-founder & CEO, Praveen Penmetsa.

“Due to the ever-increasing labor challenges, sustainability concerns, and food traceability and scrutiny issues farmers face, we have experienced great demand for the unique solutions Monarch Tractor offers.”

Since its official launch late last year, the Monarch Tractor has gathered plenty of interest from farmers and investors alike, allowing Monarch to now scale production and expand manufacturing space in preparation to meet global demand.

In addition, it provides Monarch the ability to expand the company’s footprint globally into South America, Europe and Asia for international pilot testing programs.

“Monarch is transforming what is arguably the most important vehicle on the planet, tractors,” said Hendrik Van Asbroeck, Partner at Astanor Ventures.

“Tractors emit 14 times more than a car, and have not seen the same wave of digital innovation as we have seen in the automobile industry.

“Beyond delivering an affordable, clean and autonomous solution, Monarch‘s tractors capture detailed on-farm data to enable the sustainable and efficient farms of the future.”

Monarch Tractor claims its product – a compact 40hp tractor is the first in the world to be fully electric and autonomous. Operators can choose to either sit in the cab to drive the tractor as per normal, or program it to drive itself and perform pre-programmed tasks.

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