“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. 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,”

said Praveen Penmetsa, co-founder & CEO, Monarch Tractor.

Monarch Tractor unlocks the potential for specialty crop farmers to achieve both their economic and sustainability goals. 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 post Monarch Tractor Secures $61M in Series B Funding appeared first on North America FarmQuip Magazine.

The license agreement foresees the launch of a scalable, modular electrification platform focusing on low horsepower tractors. These will be developed across multiple product families in the coming years, using an agile process that continuously gathers farmers’ input to ensure we create industry-leading, differentiated solutions aligned to customer needs. This agreement also furthers CNH Industrial’s ongoing commitment to decarbonizing agriculture through alternative propulsion systems.

Electrification and machine automation are key tenets of CNH Industrial’s strategy to become an even stronger technology leader in agriculture and drive customer value. This mutually beneficial partnership enables CNH Industrial to enhance its internal electrification capabilities and develop and implement new electrified platforms faster. In turn, Monarch Tractor will be able to harness the benefits of CNH Industrial’s deep sector expertise in product, brand, distribution, and supply chain strength.

“We are confident that the new pathways provided by Monarch will rapidly strengthen our competitive position in sustainable precision farming. Their talented team, exceptional engineering acumen, and Silicon Valley R&D ecosystem will greatly enhance our digital capabilities. We look forward to working with Monarch to accelerate innovation in EV technology and expeditiously bring customer-valued, autonomous, fully electric solutions to the world’s farmers,”

said Scott Wine, Chief Executive Officer, CNH Industrial.

The post CNH Industrial Enters into Technology Licensing Agreement with Monarch Tractor appeared first on North America FarmQuip Magazine.

“Monarch Tractor continues to accelerate the adoption of sustainable farming practices by helping farmers achieve environmental and economic goals. With the support of the USDA, we are excited to team up with Hopville Farms and further our commitment to innovation in the agriculture sector,”

said Praveen Penmetsa, co-founder & CEO, Monarch Tractor.

Monarch Tractor and Hopville Farms’ strategic alliance was made possible through the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. The organization selected Hopville Farms for funding under the Conservation Innovation Grant program to integrate and test Monarch Tractor’s autonomous electric tractor.

“Monarch Tractor is an ideal partner due to its collaborative approach to solving the issues facing farmers today. We’re eager to implement Monarch’s technology into our operation as its autonomous capabilities will help improve labor productivity, while electrification will reduce our carbon footprint,”

said Jim Hoffmann, owner, Hopville Farms.

The USDA Conservation Innovation Grant program is one of several funding opportunities available to farmers deploying Monarch Tractor for its unique, fully electric, driver-optional features. This approval for funding through the USDA adds to a growing list of funding awards for Monarch partnerships that includes California, Norway, and New Zealand. Each program aims to improve agricultural operations through green and sustainable technology and best practices.

The Monarch Tractor is the first to offer a trifecta of electrification, automation, and data analysis that empowers sustainable farming increases efficiency, safety and maximizes profitability for farmers. To see the Monarch Tractor in action, watch this video.

Source: Monarch Tractor

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“Monarch Tractor is at the intersection of tech and agriculture and is helping farmers implement cutting-edge AI technology for unprecedented insights. The deep-learning technology is a game-changer in its ability to help farmers maximize all aspects of their daily operations. This Golden Bridge Award is a great honor and will further fuel our efforts to set a new standard in AgTech,”

said Praveen Penmetsa, co-founder & CEO, Monarch Tractor.

The coveted 13th Annual Golden Bridge Awards program recognizes and honors the world’s best in organizational performance, products and services, innovations, executives and management teams, women in business and the professions, case studies and successful deployments, public relations and marketing campaigns, product management, websites, blogs, white-papers, videos, advertisements, creativity, partner programs, and customer satisfaction programs from every major industry in the world.

The award-winning Monarch Tractor is the first to offer a trifecta of electrification, automation, and data analysis that empowers sustainable farming, increases efficiency and safety, and maximizes profitability for farmers. In addition to its 2021 Golden Bridge Business and Innovation Award, Monarch Tractor has won several industry awards and recognition including the 2021 RBR50 Robotics Innovations Award, 2021 BIG Innovation Award, and “2020 Tractor of the Year” in the AgTech Breakthrough Awards.

Source: Monarch Tractor

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Monarch Tractor was awarded in the Applications & Markets Innovation Class in the Agriculture Subclass for its autonomy and all-electric operation for the compact tractor market. Monarch Tractor was selected for its value and ability to improve performance, productivity, increase quality, and reduce costs for the agriculture industry.

“Monarch Tractor’s mission has been to improve farming practices with a clean, efficient, safe, and economically viable solution for today’s farmers and future generations. Our cutting-edge technology combining automation, electrification, mechanization, and data analysis helps the agriculture industry reduce overhead costs and emissions. To have our autonomy and all-electric operation be recognized with an RBR50 Robotics Innovation Award is an honor and further validates our mission to increase farmer productivity, improve farm safety, and create a more sustainable future,”

said Praveen Penmetsa, chief executive office, and co-founder, Monarch Tractor.

Since 2012, Robotics Business Review has acknowledged 50 elite companies with the RBR50 Robotics Innovation Awards for accelerating the robotics sector growth and innovation in the following three classes:

● Business and Management – Initiatives or practices that enhance a company’s commercial standing, foster robotics industry growth, or benefit society.

● Technology, Products, and Services – New commercial solutions that have the potential to positively impact markets or the whole robotics sector.

● Application and Market – Industry-specific, newly developed applications that deliver value, provide entry to new markets or improve performance over existing approaches (such as by improving productivity, increasing quality, or reducing cost).

“For the robotics sector, the role, importance, and impact of innovation has never been greater. With this year’s RBR50 Robotics Innovation Awards, Robotics Business Review highlights those critical innovations, and the organizations responsible for them, that will spur the development of new robotics solutions and drive robotics adoption forward,”

said Dan Kara, vice president of robotics at WTWH Media.

The award-winning Monarch Tractor has set a new standard in tractor technology and capabilities. In addition to its 2021 RBR50 Robotics Innovations Award, Monarch Tractor has won several industry awards and recognition including a 2021 BIG Innovation Award and “2020 Tractor of the Year” in the AgTech Breakthrough Awards.

Monarch Tractor recently announced its first deployment at Wente Vineyards and closed a $20M Series A funding round with investments from global companies including Musashi Seimitsu Industry Co., CNH Industrial, VST Tillers Tractors Ltd., At One Ventures, and MUUS.

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“We’ve been out here for two seasons. I remember the day we set up camp—we literally pitched a tent and started testing our tractor. Thanks to Wente’s support, we have made a lot of progress and today is the culmination of that progress with us handing over the tractor that Wente vineyards are going to use over the coming years,”

said co-founder Praveen Penmetsa.

Wente Vineyards is the longest family-run winery in the nation with five generations of knowledge. The fifth generation of the Wente Family has continued the family’s sustainability efforts to be better stewards of the land for generations to come. The Monarch Tractor will help them continue these efforts.

The 15 pilot-series tractors being deployed are a stepping stone in Monarch’s goal of beginning full production at the end of the year. The power is now in the hands of the consumer, and Monarch Tractor will be used just like any other tractor on the field. In the coming months, Monarch will take all of the feedback they receive and implement changes in the software and hardware that will help ensure our tractors are ready for any challenge.

We’re honored to receive an outpouring of support from many different groups across the tech and innovation, farming, and governing communities. Members of these groups include iGATE Innovation Hub, the Innovation TriValley Leadership Group, and the local tech and innovation community as well as Bush Hog and countless farmers in the region. A special thanks to the City of Livermore and the Livermore Chamber of Commerce for embracing Monarch as they further establish our roots in the ideal agtech location where the tech and talent pool of Silicon Valley, agriculture of the Central and Napa Valleys, and R&D in the TriValley area all intersect.

“This deployment is just the beginning of what is possible in terms of a sustainable technology that is going to have an impact on farm economics. Our mission has always been to create a sustainable food ecosystem for the world over,”

said Penmetsa.

Source: Monarch Tractor

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“We are thrilled to announce the ahead-of-schedule deployment of the first of several Monarch Tractors. Our tractor has undergone strenuous real-world testing and is now ready to get to work and deliver on the promise of a more sustainable and efficient farming operation,”

said Praveen Penmetsa, chief executive officer, Monarch Tractor.

Monarch Tractor and Wente have been partners throughout the tractor’s beta phase. The two companies found synergy with Monarch’s traditional farming features, cutting-edge technology, and sustainable capabilities, merging the Livermore wine region with Silicon Valley tech.

“We’ve seen firsthand the benefits of the Monarch Tractor in our vineyards. Monarch Tractor represents the future of tractors and to be the first customer deployment is especially exciting as we kick off this new era of sustainable farming,”

said Niki Wente, Wente Vineyards.

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) FARMER Program is part of California Climate Investments, a statewide program that puts billions of cap-and-trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment, particularly in underserved communities. Additionally, CARB contributed to the FARMER program by adding Advanced Technology Demonstration Projects, an initiative leading to a grant offered to Monarch Tractor by CARB through the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.

“Monarch has demonstrated great leadership in the manufacturing industry to help reduce air pollution and protect the climate with their innovative zero-emission farming equipment. The Air District was pleased to award Monarch this grant funding to further this work,”

said Jack Broadbent, executive officer of the Air District.

The award-winning Monarch Tractor combines electrification, automation, machine learning, and data analysis to set a new standard in tractor technology and capabilities. To see the Monarch Tractor in action, watch this video.

The post First Monarch Tractor Report to Work at Wente Vineyards appeared first on North America FarmQuip Magazine.

FIRA Open Day 2021: the American market and machine automation from John Deere, AGCO, and CNH Industrial

The FIRA Open Day brought together 1000 participants last April 15 to discover new agricultural robot demos and presentations (Monarch Tractor, Earth Rover, Ambit Robotics, Naio Technologies, SITIA, VitiBot…).

It was also an opportunity to explore the state-of-the-art of automation projects of the main tractor manufacturers, with the participation of Kent Brown, Senior Product Manager – Harvesting Automation at John Deere, Andrew Sunderman, Senior Manager, Global Farming Solutions at AGCO Corporation, and Brett McClelland, Product Manager – Precision Agriculture from CNH Industrial (in a debate led by David Frabotta from the American agricultural media group Meister Media).

Finally, a roundtable provided an update on the progress, needs, and challenges of agricultural robot development in the United States. Around the table were gathered Praveen Penmetsa, CEO of Monarch Tractor, Gabriel Youtsey, CIO of the University of California, Walt Duflock, VP of innovation of Western Growers and Alain Pincot, director of Betteravia Farms (in a debate led by Julie Peyrache, Investment Manager for the CAPAGRO investment fund).

World FIRA 2021, December 7 – 9: one hybrid event, two experiences

As the health situation tends to offer better days for on-site events, FIRA plans to reopen to the public in Toulouse (France), while keeping its virtual event as its main format: all in parallel over 3 days of conferences, demos, exhibitions, and business.

The idea behind this virtual format is to offer a double experience to the participants, that is, the possibility to choose to participate online-only, or also in person. They will be able to plan business meetings in advance and enjoy the double experience, with their meetings held directly on-site, or by videoconference with a participant on the other side of the world. As for the speeches, most of them will take place in the amphitheaters of the Congress Center, and will be broadcast live on the online platform.

The theme of this 6th edition, “When the farmers take over robots!” addresses the current challenges of the sector. The objective is to make the farmer an active participant in the reception of his robots from their design to their handling and to meet concretely his daily needs. FIRA USA 2022, in partnership with the University of California and the United States, (particularly California) represent a market that is both mature and sufficiently technophile to support the growth of agricultural robotics.

This is one of the reasons why FIRA chose this part of the world for its first regional edition. With numerous locally-based partners, such as WGA – Growers Western, many manufacturers and producers, and agricultural media, GOFAR consolidated ties with the University of California, the local operator, and co-organizer of FIRA USA 2022 which should be held on-site in March 2022.

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Monarch’s leading-edge electric tractor platform offers a unique combination of a fully electric powertrain with autonomous technologies. This is paired with a comprehensive agronomic and machine data management platform to deliver a complete technology ecosystem. This technology will provide professional agriculture producers the first-to-the-market offering in the sub-100hp segment, which lowers overall emissions, improves agronomic insights, and enhances safety.

“Monarch is pioneering tractor technology that incorporates electrification, autonomous use, and data management. These are three of the key pillars supporting sustainability, productivity, and profitability, both for CNH Industrial and for our farming customers. We are incredibly excited to work with Monarch to develop and deploy their ground-breaking technology ecosystem, which we believe has applicability across our entire Off-Road business. This partnership underscores our commitment to rapidly improving our alternative propulsion and precision farming portfolio while extending our world-leading sustainability credentials,”

said Scott Wine, Chief Executive Officer, CNH Industrial.

“Monarch Tractor is a 21st-century tool for the global farmer helping increase farm sustainability and efficiency. We share CNH Industrial’s commitment to supporting the sustainable development of agriculture and are excited about the partnership’s positive global impact on farm economics and sustainability,”

said Praveen Penmetsa, CEO, Monarch Tractor.

Source: Monarch Tractor

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The investment round garnered global reach led by Musashi Seimitsu Industry Co., Ltd., a Japan-based global auto parts company, CNH Industrial, a worldwide leader in agricultural and on- and off-road industrial equipment, and VST Tillers Tractors Ltd., an Indian tractor and implement company. The round also includes At One Ventures, a Silicon Valley venture capital fund, and MUUS, a sustainability-focused private capital group.

“The food ecosystem is ready for transformation with farmers demanding sustainable tools that can increase efficiency and farm profitability. Thus, we have seen an incredible and accelerating demand for our Monarch Tractor. The strategic investments by global leaders like CNH Industrial validate the Monarch Tractor platform’s broad application globally and beyond farm products. We are excited to have a group of investors who share a commitment to supporting the sustainable development of agriculture and positive global impact on farm economics and sustainability,”

said Praveen Penmetsa, CEO, Monarch Tractor.

“Monarch is pioneering tractor technology that incorporates electrification, autonomous use, and data management. These are three of the key pillars supporting sustainability, productivity, and profitability, both for CNH Industrial and for our farming customers. We are incredibly excited to work with Monarch to develop and deploy their groundbreaking technology ecosystem, which we believe has applicability across our entire Off-Road business,”

said Scott Wine, CEO, CNH Industrial.

Monarch’s award-winning tractor has seen increased global demand since launching in December of 2020. The company has received widespread accolades including winning a 2021 BIG Innovation Award, “2020 Tractor of the Year” in the AgTech Breakthrough Awards, was named one of World Ag Expo’s “Top 10 Best New Products,” and recognized in Fast Company’s “Best World-Changing Ideas: North America, Energy, and Food.”

“It’s an exciting time for agtech with the powerful convergence of traditional farming and cutting-edge technology. Monarch Tractor is leading the way, delivering on an ambitious effort to make farming smarter, greener, and safer than ever before. With the support of the investment community, Monarch Tractor is poised to achieve its mission to empower today’s farmers and enable the transition to more productive, precise, and sustainable farming practices.”

said Dennis Muilenburg, investor, and advisor, Monarch Tractor.

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