Michigan Grows Our First “Unicorn” Tech Company Valued At More Than $1 Billion

The concept in venture capital circles of a “Unicorn” — a privately held company that’s valued by investors at more than a billion dollars — is something that hasn’t touch the mitten state up until now.

However, according to a press release, the Ann Arbor-based Duo Security has raised another $119 million in a Series D round of investment at a valuation of $1.17 billion.

The company, headed by Dug Song, has 500 employees in offices here in Michigan as well as in Austin, Texas; San Mateo, California and London in the United Kingdom.

About 350 employees are based out of their Ann Arbor headquarters.

According to Fortune, up until now there have been no so-called Unicorns in the state of Michigan.

So what does Duo do? They provide digital security services for businesses with a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model. Their big product currently is a two-factor “Trusted Access” app that can roll out for between $3-$9 per user per month above a free tier for companies smaller than 10 people.

They have more than 10,000 customers including big names Etsy, Facebook, K-Swiss, Paramount Pictures, Random House, Yelp, and Zillow.

A quote might hint at the power of connecting Ann Arbor and Detroit in a meaningful way. After all, the technology center around San Francisco is actually made up of a series of cities.

Here’s what Song told Techcrunch:

“In the same way the synergy between San Francisco and San Jose created Silicon Valley, a resurgent Michigan is being driven by regional collaboration between Ann Arbor and Detroit … We look at the current momentum occurring in Detroit as an opportunity to further accelerate the development of the tech community regionally and look forward to contributing to the city’s revitalization in any way we can.”