'We won't be uniting for myriad reasons' - Kaseya CEO on owner acquiring Veeam

Fred Voccola insists that private equity owner Insight’s recent purchase of Veeam will not affect Kaseya’s strategy

Kaseya's growth strategy will not be affected by its owner Insight Partners' recent acquisition of rival Veeam, CEO Fred Voccola told CRN.

Private equity (PE) house Insight bought Veeam for $5bn (£3.8bn) a fortnight ago and Voccola (pictured) explained that despite now being under the same ownership, there is "absolutely no" chance of the rival companies collaborating.

"There's a perception out there from people who don't work in or with private equity firms [that we have the same investors]," he explained.

"There are very strict regulations that prevent private equity firms from doing unnatural things with their companies.

"We view Veeam as a competitor in our partners, and we love beating them and taking their business away. I know We view Veeam as a competitor but only in about 10 per cent of our partners. I know and am good friends with [Veeam co-founder] Ratmir Timashev and it's really fun competing with the firm and taking its customers because our technology is better.

"We won't be uniting for myriad reasons, some of which are legal and [also because] it just doesn't make sense for us and Veeam to do anything together and we are happy with our status of continuing to beat them in the market."

Kaseya was recently valued at $2bn, attaining ‘unicorn' status, and reported annual revenue of $300m in 2019, a year-on-year growth of 30 per cent.

The company received $500m in investment last year, which the chief exec said has been earmarked for acquisitions of its own, stating that two to three acquisitions will be made this year, and a similar number next year.

"We generated around $100m of profit this past year, so we didn't need that $500m for capital," he stated.

"We did it because we know that we're going to be doing lots of acquisitions over the next several years and we also want to facilitate expansions. Most of the capital raise is being put into R&D.

Watch out for the rest of CRN's interview with the Kaseya CEO where he reveals his concerns about attaining unicorn status and his thoughts on taking the firm public