| Creo Israel last week fired 40 of its Israeli employees, TheMarker.com has learned. After earlier staff cuts, this leaves Creo with a workforce of 45, down considerably from its peak of over 100 employees.The company was forced to cut expenses due to market conditions, said Creo Israel CEO Eviatar Halevi. He says that most of the staff cuts were made from the firm’s R&D and administrative divisions. “We decided to narrow our focus to just two products, and stop the development of a third product. Instead, we will focus on developing a product that is more promising in terms of the current market conditions, and we will continue developing the next generation of this product. Our customers are aware of the change, and have faith in the company,” he added.
Creo Israel, which develops and produces direct laser imaging technologies for the printing industry, was founded in 1994 by Creo Products (Nasdaq:CREO). In July 2000, the firm completed a $13 million private placement, at a company valuation of $52 million, post-money.
Venture capital company Vertex Management Israel led the placement with $4 million. Other investors included Creo International, the Challenge fund and the Nomura bank. |
