ANN ARBOR – To say it was a good year for Duo Security would be an understatement.
The tech company just announced its milestones for 2017 and not only did it smash records, it forged strategic partnerships and welcomed industry luminaries to its leadership team and board.
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“2017 was an important and exciting year for Duo, during which we expanded our leadership position and further solidified our place as an enduring global company for our customers,” said Dug Song, Duo co-founder and chief executive officer in a press release.
Duo co-founder and CEO, Dug Song (Photo: Duo Security)
“Our goal is a lofty one: to change the way the world thinks about security, the largest geopolitical issue of our time," Song said. "To do this, we are investing aggressively in R&D (research and development) and deepening our bench. We are incredibly pleased to welcome some of the top technology executives in the world to our board as well as a cadre of renown talent to our world-class leadership team."
Perhaps the most significant achievement was its elevated status as a "unicorn." In the tech world, a unicorn is a company that's been evaluated at over $1 billion. The likelihood of that happening is slim to none (hence the comparison to the mythical creature), and Duo made national headlines after the announcement in October following a strong round of Series D funding to the tune of $70 million.
Plus, this tweet was everything.
In Dec 2012, we had a 3-year vision for @duosec. It came true, and looked like a skateboard ramp. Then suddenly, unicorns. #WeAreDuo pic.twitter.com/2Kl48Y6jFb
— Dug Song (@dugsong) October 21, 2017
Humor aside, this is a huge deal.
Read: Duo Security raises $70 million, now worth more than $1 billion
One thing that's clear about co-founders Song, and Duo co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Jon Oberheide is they're not content simply achieving. They push the boundaries and try to disrupt not only the market, but things like company culture as much as they can.
"Enterprises have recognized that moving to a perimeter-less security model is not only the right architecture, but also one that enables employee productivity and the safe adoption of modern IT technologies," Oberheide said in a press release. "Moving to a BeyondCorp or Zero Trust security architecture isn't an overnight thing, but a journey that we've been fortunate enough to help our customers embark on."
Duo co-founder and CTO, Jon Oberheide (Photo: Duo Security)
Enter Duo Beyond
Launched in February 2017, Duo Beyond is a faster, safer and more seamless security tool that helps users gain access from untrusted networks without having to undergo the frustration of dealing with traditional virtual private network or network access control.
Like Duo's popular two-factor authentication, Duo Beyond is easy to implement, reporting that 75 percent of its customers are up and running in a matter of days, compared with other solutions that can take up to a year.
Tech powerhouses Kayak and Sophos use Duo Beyond.
Duo Welcomes Industry Luminaries: New Hires and Growing its Board
Similar to companies like Apple and Amazon, Duo aims to innovate not for today, but for the future. The following roles have been filled:
- Sydney Carey, chief financial officer
- Carey has served as CFO for a number of high-growth SaaS private and public companies, including Apttus, MongoDB, ZScaler and TIBCO.
- Paul DiMarzo, executive vice president, corporate development
- Having served as Duo's chief financial officer for five years, DiMarzo will continue Duo's growth trajectory by focusing his talents on strategic partnerships.
- Steve McElfresh, senior vice president, people
- McElfresh brings more than 19 years of global human resources leadership experience, having worked at New Relic.
- Ambrosia Vertesi, vice president people, growth initiatives
New board members include:
- Hilarie Koplow-McAdams
- Former president of both New Relic and Salesforce
- Ron Gill
- Former chief financial officer of NetSuite
- Lorrie Norrington
- Former eBay president and McAfee board member
- Rob Ward, board observer
- Co-founder of Meritech
More business highlights
Duo rapidly surpassed its $100 million annual recurring revenue at the end of 2017.
Since its founding in 2010, Duo serves more than 10,000 customers in 100 countries.
Every month, Duo manages more than 300 million authentication events and is used on more than 8 million smartphones and computers by people for work.
More people highlights
Since 2016, Duo has nearly tripled its staff, from 200 to nearly 600 as of 2018.
To support the rapidly scaling company, Duo opened two new offices in San Mateo, California, and Austin, Texas.
A year like that seems tough to top. But like history has taught us, tech unicorns are a rare breed, and go on to do some pretty outstanding things.
About Duo Security
"Duo helps defend organizations against breaches through its easy and effective cloud-based Trusted Access product suite. The company verifies the identity of users and the health of their devices before granting them access to applications. Duo’s intentional balance of security and usability has led the company to be a trusted partner to thousands of customers worldwide, including Dresser-Rand, Etsy, Facebook, K-Swiss, Random House, Yelp, Zillow, Paramount Pictures, and more. The Ann Arbor, Michigan-based company maintains offices in Austin, Texas; San Mateo, California; and London."
To learn more about Duo, visit its website.
VentureBeat: Duo's success confirms Ann Arbor as a tech hub
Duo Security raises $70 million, now worth more than $1 billion