The company is shifting to a tech licensing model
Monarch Tractor will no longer manufacture the electric, driver-optional tractors the company became known for.
In a statement posted on its LinkedIn page Thursday, the company indicated a shift in focus.
“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,” the statement says.
The statement goes on to say the company’s software-designed vehicle platform and other components has been purchased by “a large global equipment manufacturer,” meaning Monarch’s technology will support future innovations.
The statement doesn’t identify the company, but Monarch does have an existing relationship with CNH.
In November 2021 CNH Industrial announced it entered into an exclusive multi-year licensing agreement for electrification technologies with Monarch Tractor.
Announcements in 2022 and 2023 demonstrated further commitments between the two companies.
Monarch Tractor launched in 2018 with the goal of revolutionizing agriculture through its smart tractors.
One of its MK-V electric tractors, for example, could save a farmer an average of 2,100 gallons of diesel.
The company enjoyed early success, winning a 2020 Tractor of the Year award by the AgTech Breakthrough Awards, and an RBR50 Innovation Award in 2021, for example.
This success helped the company raise over $220 million in funding.
But the Livermore, Calif.-based company would eventually run into trouble.
A main challenge was the performance of the tractor units.
Patrick O’Connor, a winemaker from California who tested one of Monarch’s tractors for three years, for example, said in a March 29 Instagram post that the tractor “totally failed” and could really only be used on his farm as a log splitter.
And in November 2025, Burks Tractor, an Idaho dealership, sued Monarch for breach of contract because the 10 tractors it purchased from Monarch were defective.
That November the company also laid off most of its staff.