Scio Security lands $1 Million in VC

Wednesday, August 25, 2010 | Source: Concentrate

Ann Arbor's Scio Security has pulled down a big number in venture capital and plans to continue hiring as a result of this. The 8-month-old start-up co-founded by Dug Song and Jon Oberheide (both of Arbor Networks fame) recently landed $1 million from Silicon Valley-based True Ventures, which lead the initial round of fundraising, and a new venture capital firm in Ann Arbor called Resonant Venture Partners.

"The biggest criteria for us are people, by far, because we invest so early," says Puneet Agarwal, partner with True Ventures. "We jumped at the chance to partner with Dug and Jon. … We are betting on Dug and Jon building a great company in Ann Arbor."

Scio Security, which calls the Tech Brewery home, has doubled its staff to four people and an intern so far and expects to hire at least two people in engineering and marketing.

Scio Security focuses on providing new Internet security solutions for sensitive data, such as health-care information and financial transactions. Hackers have recently focused efforts on shadowing users or stealing their passwords and other security information to access financial data. Scio Security has created a variety of solutions, some patent pending, such as an immediate call back to confirm the correct person is trying to access information.

"The weakest password of your most gullible employee is the new firewall," says Song, CEO and co-founder of Scio Security. "That's where you have to focus your security."

Source: Dug Song, CEO and co-founder of Scio Security and Puneet Agarwal, partner with True Ventures
Writer: Jon Zemke