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Mon August 05, 2024
Monarch Tractor
Monarch Tractor, creator of the MK-V, the world's first fully electric, driver-optional smart tractor and Wingspan Ag Intelligence (WingspanAI) farm management platform, has announced a history-making $133 million Series C, making it the largest funding raising round in agricultural robotics history.
Monarch has quickly become a powerhouse within the agricultural space as an off-road electric vehicles (EV) and autonomous vehicles (AV) category leader. To date, the company has raised more than $220 million to enable clean, efficient and economically viable solutions as well as expanded into various agricultural markets such as vineyards, dairy, berries, orchards and land management across 12 states and three countries.
Furthermore, in just the last two years alone they have been recognized as an influential force in farming at national and international levels via accolades, including Forbes Next Billion-Dollar Startups, CNBC Disruptor 50, TIME Best Inventions and Fast Company World's Most Innovative Companies.
The Series C funds will support the further development of Monarch's cutting-edge AI product offering, expansion of their operational footprint domestically and globally, while enabling the company's path to profitability.
Funding was co-led by global impact investor Astanor and HH-CTBC Partnership L.P., with additional support from prominent investors, including At One Ventures, PMV and The Welvaartsfonds.
Monarch's Mission With Farmer Success at the Center
Founded on the belief that food security only exists with planet sustainability and farmer profitability, Monarch has been at the forefront of the critical transition to renewably powered and more profitable farming ecosystems, which ultimately empowers farmers worldwide.
In the United States, farm profitability has steadily declined over the past decade, with the sharpest decline in industry history occurring in 2023. Given the nascent nature of technology in agriculture, the sector is ripe with untapped growth potential across automation, digital technologies and AI efficiencies, with Monarch at the forefront of this disruption and technological advancement.
"Driven by artificial intelligence [AI] and electrification, agriculture has arrived as the next frontier for the energy transition and sustainability movement," said Praveen Penmetsa, CEO and co-founder of Monarch Tractor. "Agriculture is our planet's most important and overlooked sector, and those in the industry have faced significant challenges, including farm profitability, labor shortages, worker safety, government headwinds, data availability and scrutiny for sustainability demands. Monarch's application of AI and introduction of a smart, electric platform will deliver robust social, economic and environmental returns to farmers."
AI Continues to Revolutionize Farming Machinery
Tractors have been the center of all farm operations for several decades. Yet, they've been underutilized as a hub for robotics innovation and farmer payback.
In December 2022, Monarch released the world's first fully electric, driver-optional, smart tractor, the MK-V, to combat profit challenges, address sustainability demands and revive agriculture innovation. Since then, the deployment of more than 400 MK-V's have helped; resulting in more than 850 tonnes of harmful CO2 emissions offset across 42,000 hours of tractor operations.
Monarch's WingspanAI app is equipping farmers with unprecedented access to on-farm data, integrating a farm management system, vehicle position tracking, crop image collection and automated operations planning into one platform. The continual development of product solutions, including the introduction of new AI capabilities, will be the driving force in closing the industry's profit gap.
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, for new global markets and crop sectors.
For more information, visit www.monarchtractor.com/