Katerra

Founded in 2015, today Katerra once ranked as one of the top 25 multifamily general contractors in the United States. In June 2021 it told employees this week that it is shutting down. Katerra had received more than $1 billion in funding from SoftBank, which had also poured money into WeWork. At one point, it was valued at $4 billion. A company executive cited the Covid-19 pandemic, along with soaring labor and construction costs as reasons for its latest financial difficulties. The company struggled with delays and cost overruns. Though it had previously employed around 8,000 people, it laid off hundreds of employees last year. The company also faced an investigation into its accounting practices by the Securities and Exchange Commission and by its board of directors Last year, the company was reportedly exploring the possibility of Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, until it was bailed out by a $200 million cash infusion from SoftBank. That round of funding gave another SoftBank-backed company, Greensill Capital, a 5 percent stake in the company in exchange for erasing more than $400 million in debt. Greensill also collapsed earlier this year. Katerra’s founder Michael Marks and CEO left the company May 2020. Paal Kibsgaard, the company’s most recent chief executive, departed in May 2021.