Autonomous electrical tractor startup Monarch Tractor warned workers Thursday it could want to put off greater than 100 staff, or probably even ‘shut down,’ in accordance with a company-wide memo obtained by TechCrunch.
The memo comes after Monarch Tractor was already chopping some positions over the previous few weeks at its California company amenities and distant groups in India and Singapore, in accordance with a number of former staff who spoke with TechCrunch on the situation of anonymity.
Monarch Tractor was based in 2018 by a crew that included a former prime government at Tesla’s first gigafactory and Carlo Mondavi, a scion of the well-known winemaking household. The corporate raised a minimum of $220 million, together with $133 million in 2024, because it pursued a purpose of constructing “driver optionally available” autonomous tractors that would carry out duties at locations like wineries and different fruit farms.
Whereas Monarch Tractor claims to have shipped round 500 of these tractors so far, the corporate introduced a restructuring in late 2024 that was supposed see its tractors broaden to different use circumstances, like pushing feed at dairy farming and sustaining golf programs. CEO Praveen Penmesta additionally mentioned on the time that Monarch Tractor would focus extra on promoting software program providers and licensing the corporate’s autonomous tech.
A minimum of one buyer — certainly one of Monarch Tractors’ first sellers — claims the autonomous tech by no means labored effectively, if in any respect, in accordance with a lawsuit first reported by TechCrunch this week. Idaho dealership Burks Tractor claimed Monarch offered it “faulty” automobiles that skilled “important issues” after they arrived in 2024. Primarily, Burks accused Monarch’s tractors of being “unable to function autonomously.” (Monarch denied the claims in a courtroom submitting.)
Monarch Tractor suggests to staff within the memo on Thursday it’s attempting to pivot even more durable away from making tractors — which is probably not stunning, on condition that the startup misplaced its contract producer, Foxconn, earlier this yr.
“The brand new marketing strategy will allow Monarch clients to launch absolutely commercialized software program as a service (SaaS) autonomy and different software program choices direct to shoppers, unlocking new income streams to OEMs,” the startup’s human sources crew wrote. “Sadly, the timing for finishing the transition to the brand new marketing strategy places Monarch susceptible to shut down.”
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Monarch advised staff within the memo it could completely lay off “as much as 102 staff.”
It’s unclear how many individuals at present work for Monarch. The startup had round 300 staff in late 2024 when it laid off greater than 10% of the corporate as a part of the restructuring. The previous staff accustomed to the latest cuts couldn’t say precisely how massive these layoffs had been. Penmesta didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
By way of this yr, Monarch Tractor has additionally misplaced some prime expertise, together with the co-founder from Tesla, Mark Schwager.
“We began Monarch with a daring imaginative and prescient: that farming might be electrified, automated, good and made extra worthwhile — unexpectedly,” Schwager wrote in a LinkedIn put up in July, whereas explaining he would stay on the corporate’s board. “Monarch is in nice place and in nice fingers for the subsequent leg of its trajectory – making the timing proper for this transition.”
