Monarch Tractor has announced the completion of a $61 million 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 will be scaling its sales, service and manufacturing footprint; expanding its product offerings; and launching international pilot test programs for regional market validation.
"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," says Praveen Penmetsa, co-founder and CEO, Monarch Tractor. "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."
Monarch Tractor unlocks the potential for specialty crop farmers to achieve both their economic and sustainability goals, the company says. This has led to growing interest from farmers and increased support from the investment community, allowing Monarch to scale production and expand manufacturing space in preparation to meet global demand. Additionally, it provides Monarch with the ability to expand the company's footprint globally into South America, Europe and Asia for international pilot testing programs, the company says.
"Monarch is transforming what is arguably the most important vehicle on the planet: tractors," says Hendrik Van Asbroeck, partner at Astanor Ventures. "Tractors emit 14x 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."
