Just two years ago, Monarch Tractor was worth half a billion dollars and ready to shake up the wine industry. In April, it shut its headquarters, laid off its employees and sold its technology to a competitor. <\/p>\n
The wine-country startup wanted to revolutionize the cultivation of grapes and other fruit with $100,000 robotractors, but the technology didn\u2019t work well enough. At a time when Waymo\u2019s impressive success and the advent of AI have rekindled excitement about everything driverless, Monarch\u2019s failure to disrupt has become another cautionary tale about massive bets on the latest tech.<\/p>\n
The driver optional, battery-powered tractors \u2014 built skinny enough to fit in the narrow lanes between the rows of grapevines near its headquarters in Livermore \u2014 were going to make it easier and cheaper to handle pests, irrigation and harvesting. They were supposed to use cameras and sensors to collect data, learn what works best and then share that learning online with thousands of other high-tech tractors. <\/p>\n
On the back of hopes it could save farmers hundreds of thousands of dollars, the Monarch tractor made Time magazine\u2019s list of the year\u2019s best inventions in 2023. That same year, Monarch was on a Forbes list of startups most likely to reach a $1-billion valuation. It made it halfway there the following year. <\/p>\n
\u201cEvery farmer around the world is under tremendous pressure because of a lack of labor,\u201d Monarch Chief Executive Praveen Penmetsa told Forbes in 2023, projecting hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue. \u201cWe are the only all-electric, smart, driver-optional tractor in the world that farmers can buy today.\u201d<\/p>\n
But just as the technology seemed poised to move from moonshot to mainstream, customer complaints started coming in. <\/p>\n
Patrick O\u2019Connor, who runs Moonvine Wines, an organic vineyard near the Sierra Foothills wine region, was one of the first users and said the tractors too often went rogue, veering off straight paths and damaging his vines. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt totally failed,\u201d O\u2019Connor said in an Instagram video. \u201cWhile I was excited to eliminate diesel, run off my solar panels and embrace new technology, it just did not perform. It was actually quite dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n
The potentially world-changing technology wasn\u2019t working as designed. Meanwhile, Monarch hit a wall when its manufacturer \u2014 the same company that makes most iPhones \u2014 had to stop making the tractors. <\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately we did have first generation problems with our product,\u201d Penmetsa said in an interview. \u201cThe fact that it\u2019s a very, very hard problem is proven by the fact that there is no commercial solution out there today. Some farmers had challenges, but I don\u2019t think that should be the overall narrative.\u201d<\/p>\n
The company was launched in 2018 with a promising pedigree. <\/p>\n
Its founding team included Tesla veteran Mark Schwager and Napa Valley wine scion Carlo Mondavi, the grandson of Napa legend Robert Mondavi.<\/p>\n
Penmetsa, the chief executive, had worked for years in the automotive and EV industries, largely in and around Los Angeles. <\/p>\n
The company set out with the ambitious goal of bringing battery power, data collection and driverless technology to tractors. If it could pull it off, it could change farming around the world. <\/p>\n
The Californian wine industry has been struggling with rising competition and dwindling demand, which could have nudged more farmers to try to save money using Monarch\u2019s technology. It also could have made farmers more cautious about using unproven and expensive new technology. <\/p>\n
Monarch may have aimed too high, industry insiders said. <\/p>\n
While Monarch was trying to solve two problems at once \u2014 making its tractor both electric and autonomous \u2014 it didn\u2019t spend enough time thinking about farmers\u2019 needs, said Walt Duflock, senior vice president of innovation for the Western Growers Assn. Duflock owns San Bernardo Rancho, a fifth-generation family ranch in south Monterey County.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe electric tractor has struggled to find a use case on the farm,\u201d Duflock said in an interview. \u201cThey never got to the point where their electric vehicle was solving a fundamental problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Duflock\u2019s ranch and many other California farms, there\u2019s little to no charging infrastructure, he said. Even if infrastructure was developed, the time it takes to charge an electric tractor is too long for most farmers who can\u2019t have downtime during busy seasons.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe notion of sitting there waiting for a charging tractor to finish getting charged just doesn\u2019t fit,\u201d Duflock said.<\/p>\n
Penmetsa said that Monarch proved there is room and demand for electric tractors in the agricultural industry. The company sold around 500 tractors, including one on a dairy farm that logged more than 4,000 hours in use. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere are certain applications where we learned that the electric tractor was a perfect fit,\u201d Penmetsa said. \u201cBut we also learned that there\u2019s certain applications where the electric tractor was not the ideal fit.\u201d<\/p>\n
When attempting to operate autonomously, Duflock heard that the Monarch tractor \u201cwould bump into stuff, it would not stop fast enough,\u201d he said. \u201cIt just did not work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Monarch\u2019s collapse was gradual. In July 2024, the company laid off 15% of its workforce, followed by another round of layoffs in November that year that affected around 35 employees, or 10% of its workforce. A year later, the company warned employees it could lay off 100 workers or even \u201cshut down\u201d in a company-wide memo obtained by TechCrunch. <\/p>\n
In November 2025, Monarch Tractor was sued by the Idaho-based dealership Burks Tractor, which accused Monarch of misrepresenting its autonomous technology. <\/p>\n
Burks Tractor paid Monarch more than $770,000 for 10 tractors. <\/p>\n
\u201cUpon receiving the tractors, Burks Tractor discovered that the tractors did not perform as represented and were unable to operate autonomously,\u201d the complaint said. <\/p>\n
A Burks Tractor manager declined to comment due to the ongoing litigation. <\/p>\n
In April, Monarch sold the technology it had spent hundreds of millions of dollars developing to construction giant Caterpillar, for an undisclosed amount.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt means the technology will continue to move forward,\u201d with another company, Monarch said in a LinkedIn post at the time. \u201cThank you to our employees, investors and customers for being a part of this journey.\u201d<\/p>\n
Caterpillar did not respond to requests for comment. <\/p>\n
Penmetsa said Monarch would have benefited from transitioning away from manufacturing sooner rather than later. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat was a lesson learned,\u201d he said. \u201cIf we had focused on just the software side and pivoted faster, I think we would have seen more success.\u201d<\/p>\n
Monarch\u2019s vehicles were supposed to be manufactured at a facility in Ohio owned by Foxconn, a Taiwanese electronics company known for assembling iPhones. Foxconn sold the factory in August 2025, shutting down Monarch\u2019s plans there. <\/p>\n
Penmetsa added that he \u201cwould like to see more agriculture tech investment\u201d despite Monarch\u2019s trajectory. <\/p>\n
Other companies are plowing forward where Monarch has failed. <\/p>\n
For example, farm equipment company John Deere has had more success marketing and selling autonomous farm equipment. It has taken a different approach, gradually incorporating autonomous technology into its existing products. The company\u2019s 8R tractor can operate autonomously while being controlled by a smartphone and has been deployed at large-scale commodity farms growing corn, soy and wheat. <\/p>\n
Organic vineyard owner O\u2019Connor still uses his Monarch tractor, but only as a battery and to cut wood with an attachment he has added. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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