Filing: OLED Manufacturing Startup Kateeva To Lay Off 144 People, Execs Included

Organic LED manufacturing startup Kateeva slashed its staff, according to a filing with the state of California.

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Kateeva chief people officer Monica Kaldani-Nasif wrote in a letter to the state’s Employment Development Department on Jan. 27 that the company would be laying off 144 employees. A WARN notice from the EDD indicated that the layoffs would be effective Jan. 31.

“The company plans to effectuate the entire reduction-in-force–affecting a total of 144 employees–in one mass layoff to occur on the layoff date, except for a limited number* of employees who will provide transition services during the 60-day notice period,” Kaldani-Nasif wrote.

Reporter’s note: The “*” in the excerpt above is tied to positions listed in the document that would remain with Kateeva for a transition period.

Kaldani-Nasif also wrote that the company would compensate employees laid off before the end of the 60-day notice. Companies in California are required to give a 60-day notice before mass layoffs.

Positions ranging from software engineer to director of advanced research and development were listed as part of the layoffs. Executive positions including president, chief marketing officer and chief operating officer were also listed among the layoffs, though they were marked with an asterisk to indicate that the employees in those positions would be providing transition services over the following two months.

Kateeva developed an inkjet printer to manufacture OLED screens in large quantities. The company is based in Newark, California.

Kateeva raised $126 million in total funding from investors including Sigma Partners and TCL Capital, according to Crunchbase. It last raised money in May 2016, for its $88 million Series E.

We reached out to Kateeva via its press email on Wednesday afternoon and haven’t heard back yet. A phone call to Kateeva’s phone operator led to a full voicemail.

Illustration Credit: Li-Anne Dias