By Brian French | FloridaTechnologyNews.com | September 19, 2026
Quick Answer
Software as a Service (SaaS) is software delivered over the internet on a subscription, with the vendor hosting, securing and updating it. Florida’s largest SaaS companies by revenue are UKG (Weston, ~$3.6 billion), Cloud Software Group (Fort Lauderdale, ~$3.5 billion), Kaseya (Miami, $1.5 billion-plus ARR), ConnectWise (Tampa, ~$590 million), ReliaQuest (Tampa, $300 million-plus ARR) and ModMed (Boca Raton, ~$296 million), with KnowBe4 (Clearwater) and OpenEvidence (Miami) among the most valuable by transaction price. For Florida businesses, SaaS converts capital expense into operating expense, removes IT maintenance, and lets a small company run enterprise-grade systems from day one.
What SaaS Is
SaaS replaces the old model of buying software licenses, installing them on your own servers and paying for upgrades. Under SaaS, the vendor runs the application in the cloud, and the customer pays a recurring fee, usually per user or per month, to access it through a browser or app. The vendor handles hosting, security patches, backups and new features. The customer handles nothing but logging in.
The model has three defining traits: multi-tenancy (one codebase serving many customers), continuous updates rather than version releases, and consumption-based pricing that scales with headcount or usage. Common categories include CRM, payroll and HR, accounting, cybersecurity, IT management, and specialty vertical software such as electronic health records.
How SaaS Delivers Efficiency and Leverage
For a Florida business, the practical advantages fall into four buckets:
- Cash flow. No server purchase, no data center, no upfront license. A ten-person firm can run the same payroll, security and CRM stack as a 1,000-person company on a monthly bill.
- Speed. Deployment is measured in days rather than months, and new features arrive automatically.
- Resilience. Florida businesses face hurricane season every year; cloud-hosted software keeps running when a local office loses power, and staff can work from anywhere with a connection.
- Leverage. SaaS tools embed expertise the business does not have to hire. A managed-service provider using Kaseya or ConnectWise can support hundreds of clients with a small team; a dermatology practice using ModMed gets specialty-specific coding built in.
The trade-off is recurring cost, vendor lock-in and data residing with a third party, which is why cybersecurity SaaS is itself one of Florida’s largest software segments.
The Biggest SaaS Companies in Florida
| Company | HQ | Category | Scale |
|---|---|---|---|
| UKG | Weston (dual HQ) | HR / workforce | ~$3.6B rev (FY2023) |
| Cloud Software Group | Fort Lauderdale | Virtualization, data | ~$3.5B rev (est.) |
| Kaseya | Miami | IT management, security | $1.5B+ ARR (2025) |
| ConnectWise | Tampa | MSP software | ~$590M rev (est.) |
| ReliaQuest | Tampa | Cybersecurity | $300M+ ARR; $3.4B valuation |
| ModMed | Boca Raton | Healthcare EHR | ~$296M rev |
| KnowBe4 | Clearwater | Security training | $4.6B buyout (2023) |
| OpenEvidence | Miami | Clinical AI | $12B valuation (2026) |
| Kore.ai | Orlando | Conversational AI | $100M+ ARR |
| CentralSquare | Lake Mary | Public-sector software | 7,500+ agencies |
Revenue figures for private companies are estimates compiled by the Florida Startup Ecosystem Map (Embarc Collective) and company disclosures; ARR means annual recurring revenue.
UKG (Ultimate Kronos Group)
UKG is a workforce-management and human-capital-management software company formed in 2020 from the merger of Ultimate Software and Kronos, with dual headquarters in Weston and Lowell, Massachusetts, roughly $3.6 billion in FY2023 revenue and 13,000-plus employees. Its Florida roots run through Ultimate Software, founded in 1990, whose UltiPro cloud HCM system was one of the first large-scale SaaS successes in the state. Ultimate reported $940 million in revenue in 2017 before Hellman & Friedman took it private.
Cloud Software Group (Citrix and TIBCO)
Cloud Software Group is the private holding company formed in 2022 by Vista Equity Partners’ merger of Citrix and TIBCO, offering virtualization, application delivery and data-integration software, with estimated revenue of about $3.5 billion and more than 10,000 employees. Citrix’s Fort Lauderdale headquarters has anchored Broward County’s software cluster for three decades.
Kaseya
Kaseya is a Miami-headquartered IT and security management software company selling network monitoring, backup and cybersecurity tools primarily to managed service providers, with more than $1.5 billion in ARR and 5,000-plus employees. Wikipedia lists 2022 revenue at $1.3 billion with Insight Partners as majority owner. The company has been open about IPO ambitions, and its Connect 2026 conference showcased a new Kaseya Intelligence data layer and expanded cybersecurity portfolio. Kaseya’s name is on the Miami Heat’s arena, a sign of how central the company has become to the city’s tech identity.
ConnectWise
ConnectWise is a Tampa-based provider of business-management, remote monitoring and cybersecurity tools built for managed service providers, with estimated revenue of about $590 million and more than 3,000 employees. Together with Kaseya, it makes Florida the national center of MSP software, the tools that small IT firms use to run their clients’ networks.
ReliaQuest
ReliaQuest is a Tampa cybersecurity company whose AI-driven GreyMatter platform automates threat detection, investigation and response, valued at roughly $3.4 billion after a 2025 funding round, with $300 million-plus in ARR and 1,200 employees. It is Tampa Bay’s flagship unicorn and a frequent IPO candidate.
ModMed (Modernizing Medicine)
ModMed is a Boca Raton health-IT company whose specialty-specific EHR, practice management, revenue-cycle and analytics software is used by tens of thousands of providers, with about $296 million in revenue and 2,500-plus employees. It was founded by Blackboard co-founder Daniel Cane and dermatologist Michael Sherling and received a $231 million equity investment from Warburg Pincus-affiliated funds.
KnowBe4
KnowBe4 is a Clearwater security-awareness training and simulated-phishing platform taken private by Vista Equity Partners in a $4.6 billion deal in 2023. It remains one of the largest software acquisitions of a Florida-headquartered company.
OpenEvidence
The newest name on the list is also the most valuable. OpenEvidence, a Miami-based AI clinical decision-support platform for verified physicians, raised a $250 million Series D in January 2026 led by Thrive and DST that doubled its valuation to $12 billion, with roughly $700 million raised in under a year and the company claiming more than 40% of U.S. physicians as users.
Also Notable
Kore.ai in Orlando builds enterprise conversational and generative AI agents, raised a $150 million Series D in 2024 with Nvidia participating, and serves 400-plus Fortune 2000 brands with ARR reportedly above $100 million. CentralSquare Technologies in Lake Mary supplies computer-aided dispatch and public-administration systems to more than 7,500 government agencies. Availity in Jacksonville operates one of the largest real-time health information networks in the country, connecting roughly two million providers and health plans. TENEX.AI in Sarasota reached a $1 billion valuation on a $250 million Series B. Sarasota’s Roper Technologies, a NASDAQ-listed holding company, acquires and operates vertical software businesses, though most are headquartered elsewhere. Jacksonville’s FIS is a Fortune 500 fintech giant, but its mix of processing and software puts it outside a strict SaaS definition.
Why Florida
Three structural factors explain the cluster. First, no state income tax makes Florida attractive to founders and private-equity owners moving software companies from higher-tax states, which is how Kaseya (from California) and Citrix’s parent ended up here. Second, the MSP and cybersecurity concentration in Tampa Bay and Miami created a talent pool that feeds new companies; USF opened the first named U.S. college focused on AI, cybersecurity and computing. Third, South Florida’s healthcare density gave ModMed, OpenEvidence and Availity a large home market.
Brian’s Take
Florida’s SaaS story is private equity, not public markets. Of the ten companies above, only one is listed, and the two biggest are Vista and Hellman & Friedman roll-ups. That matters for Florida businesses in two ways. As customers, expect steady price increases and consolidation, because PE owners grow ARR by cross-selling and raising renewals; negotiate multi-year terms while you have leverage. As an economy, Florida needs a homegrown SaaS IPO. Kaseya and ReliaQuest are the candidates, and whichever goes first will set the valuation benchmark for every Florida software founder behind them.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the largest SaaS company in Florida?
By revenue, UKG and Cloud Software Group at roughly $3.5 billion each; by valuation, OpenEvidence at $12 billion.
Is FIS a SaaS company?
Not strictly. FIS is a fintech processor and software provider; much of its revenue is transaction processing rather than subscription software.
Why are so many Florida SaaS companies in cybersecurity?
Kaseya, ConnectWise, KnowBe4 and ReliaQuest built a managed-security ecosystem in Tampa Bay and Miami that attracts talent and capital.
What does ARR mean?
Annual recurring revenue, the annualized value of active subscriptions, the standard SaaS growth metric.
Does SaaS make sense for a small Florida business?
Usually. It eliminates hardware and IT staff costs and keeps operations running remotely during storms, at the price of a recurring bill.
Sources and Further Reading
- Florida Startup Ecosystem Map (Embarc Collective) – AI & Data sector, industry players: https://map.embarccollective.com/sectors/ai-data.html
- Embarc Collective map – Cloud Software Group profile: https://map.embarccollective.com/industry-players/cloud-software-group.html
- Embarc Collective map – Kaseya profile: https://map.embarccollective.com/industry-players/kaseya.html
- Embarc Collective map – ReliaQuest profile: https://map.embarccollective.com/industry-players/reliaquest.html
- Wikipedia – Kaseya: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaseya
- Wikipedia – Ultimate Software: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimate_Software
- Omdia – Kaseya at Connect 2026: https://omdia.tech.informa.com/blogs/2026/june/kaseya-at-connect-2026-keep-the-community-win-over-public-markets
- KnowBe4 IPO prospectus (SEC): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1664998/000162828021007464/knowbe4inc424b4.htm
- GetLatka – Florida SaaS companies database: https://getlatka.com/companies/countries/united-states/states/florida
- Embarc Collective map – OpenEvidence: https://map.embarccollective.com/startups/openevidence.html
- Embarc Collective map – Kore.ai: https://map.embarccollective.com/startups/kore-ai.html
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