Monarch Tractor released the following statement on LinkedIn Thursday after several reports of the electric autonomous tractor company shutting down.  

“Seven years ago, we set out to push agriculture forward by building one of the first smart, electric, software-defined tractors. From by-wire systems to exportable power, V2G capability, and a camera-first autonomy stack, we had a clear mission: improve food sustainability and small farmer economics with a new global tractor architecture. 

“We’re proud of what we built. The team pushed the technology forward and showed what’s possible when you rethink the farm tractor from the ground up. We are now seeing similar architectures emerge from major OEMs. Building and scaling a new tractor platform in agriculture came with unforeseen challenges. We had to make difficult decisions, including a shift away from manufacturing to a technology licensing model which validated that the core EV & AV technology could operate across tractors, augers, utility vehicles, and construction equipment. 

“We recognize that this transition caused disruption to customers and partners, and we understand the impact it has had. We appreciate the customers and partners who’ve continued to support us through the transition. 

“We are deeply grateful to the early customers who took a chance on us, the investors who backed the vision, and the team who believed in a more sustainable food ecosystem and put in an extraordinary amount of work to make it real. 

“We are also happy to share that Monarch’s core technology, including our software-defined vehicle platform, perception stack, and electrification systems, has been acquired by a large global equipment manufacturer. It means the technology will continue to move forward. 

“Thank you to our employees, investors and customers for being a part of this journey.”

Monarch Tractor laid off nearly all its employees last fall and left its Livermore, Calif., headquarters earlier this year amid legal troubles. Precision Farming Dealer spoke with Monarch CEO Praveen Penmetsa about the company’s AI-driven MonarchOne platform last October at FIRA USA 2025 (see video below). 

About a month after that, TechCrunch published news of a lawsuit filed by Idaho-based Case IH dealership Burks Tractor against Monarch Tractor for breach of contract and violating warranty after the startup’s tractors failed to operate autonomously.  

The dealership claims the 10 tractors it purchased via interest-bearing financing for nearly $800,000 are defective and did not live up the driver-optional, or autonomous, claims of the company.

Burks Tractor claims it purchased the 10 tractors from Monarch starting in early 2024 with the intent of being among the startup’s first retail dealers. Burks claims Monarch misrepresented the tractors as “fully autonomous and not limited by location or time.”

The article states that Monarch attempted to make the units work autonomously but failed and eventually admitted the limitations but refused to take back the defective inventory. 

Our sister publication, Ag Equipment Intelligence reviewed a November 19 letter from Monarch's HR department to 102 employees that warned of pending layoffs while communicating that the firm was moving to a new business plan of direct licensing for software and development to OEM customers. 

An industry insider told Ag Equipment Intelligence that the troubles of the lawsuit and staff layoffs were not a result of the economic downturn but rather due to an avoidance of making necessary changes to strategy. The Monarch story, we were told, is another example of where the agtech industry’s founders and engineers are so far removed from the real-world of ag production that they can’t comprehend the changes that are needed to make their inventions work.

In July 2024, The company announced $133 million Series C funds, the largest funding round in ag robotics history. “This funding round will support the expansion of Monarch’s digital solutions and AI applications, including the development of Autodrive, Monarch’s autonomous operations feature,” the company said after the announcement. 

Later, in 2025, Monarch began rolling out its Autodrive Technology. “For the first time, a fully autonomous feature in a driver-optional tractor becomes commercially available for dairies,” the company said at the time. “Monarch’s MK-V Dairy tractor becomes commercially available for autonomous feed pushing in outdoor dairy lanes, day and night.” 

Click here for more Industry News.