The head of Kaseya, the Miami-based software company that received taxpayer incentives for creating new jobs and whose name is on the Heat’s downtown arena, is stepping down after about a decade.
Fred Voccola, CEO since 2015, will move to vice chairman of the company’s board, effective immediately, Xavier Gonzalez, chief communications officer, said in an email interview with the Miami Herald.
In his new role, Voccola will “focus on long-term innovation and strategy,” Gonzalez said.
Voccola will also help the board find a new chief executive officer. He’ll have help from board member Kevin Thompson, who will “play a key role in the transition,” the company said.
Will Kaseya go public?
Fred Voccola is stepping down as the CEO of Kaseya, a Miami-based firm that provides remote IT monitoring and management for clients. Emily Michot emichot@miamiherald.com
Gonzalez didn’t say how long they expect the search to take, but noted that finding a new CEO would be “a top priority.”
That’s in part because the privately held company plans to prepare “for a potential public offering,” he said. But he didn’t specify a timeline.
Kaseya, which makes software that helps businesses manage information technology systems and security, was founded in 2000 in Silicon Valley and relocated to Miami in 2015.
The company grew substantially, from providing a single product to bringing in about $1.5 billion in annual recurring revenue. In 2024, it launched Kaseya 365, a subscription service for IT professionals.
Kaseya’s portfolio is significant enough that it was the subject of a discussion between President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladmir Putin in 2021 after a ransomware attack targeted the firm’s software.
County fiscal incentives
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and Xavier Gonzalez, Executive Vice President, Marketing Communications at Kaseya, speak to reporters after Miami-Dade commissioners approved the renaming of Miami-Dade Arena as the Kaseya Center after a Miami-based software firm at the Miami-Dade commission chambers in Miami on Tuesday, April 4, 2023. Al Diaz adiaz@miamiherald.com
In February 2023, the company was awarded as much as $4.6 million in subsidies from Miami-Dade County in exchange for going on a massive local hiring spree.
That includes $4.25 million from the Relocation and Expansion Incentives Program, known as REIP, and $313,150 from the Targeted Jobs Incentives Fund, or TJIF.
Despite the change at the top, the company expects these programs to continue, Gonzalez said.
“Kaseya continues to hire aggressively across its operations globally, particularly in Miami,” said the chief communications officer. “We look forward to continuing partnering with Miami-Dade County.”
In April 2024, the company fired at least 150 workers. At that time, Gonzalez told the Miami Herald they were “performance-based terminations” and made up about 8% of the company’s 2,000 employees in Miami. Afterward, the company faced a lawsuit in Texas from an ex-employee alleging wrongful termination and age discrimination.
Software to basketball
The Miami Heat’s county-owned arena is now known as the Kaseya Center after Miami-Dade County commissioners approved the $117 million naming-rights agreement with the software company. Courtesy of the Miami Heat
Kaseya is probably best known for something unrelated to software. In April 2023, the company agreed to pay $117 million for naming rights to the Miami Heat bayfront arena.
Gonzalez told the Herald there is no current risk to that.
“The company has made all payments and will continue to do so,” he said. “Its status as the naming rights partner remains unchanged.”
The arena where the Heat plays has had a rough recent history with names, having three different ones since 2023. Before Kaseya, the arena was named for FTX from 2021 to 2023 — until that company imploded and declared bankruptcy in a spectacular crypto crash. Before that, it was known as AmericanAirlines Arena, which it opened as in 2000.
For Voccola, the outgoing CEO, now is the “perfect time” for him to step away from the CEO role, with the company coming off the strongest quarter and year in its history, he said in a statement.
“It has been the honor of my professional life to lead Kaseya,” he said, “and work alongside the talented team that has driven our success.”
This story was originally published January 9, 2025 at 3:05 PM.
