Robert Downey Jr. (Photo: Francis Specker/BB)
The company isn't a well-known name in Silicon Valley, but its investors certainly are.
San Francisco-based Ethos Technologies Inc. was founded last year, the product of two Stanford MBAs. The company's core product is a streamlined, and affordable process for buying term insurance — which pays out benefits if the insured dies within a certain time frame. Ethos just raised $11.5 million in a round led by Silicon Valley luminary Sequoia Capital. Other investors in the round, however, were less predictable, including the venture fund of Jay Z's entertainment company Roc Nation, Robert Downey Jr.'s Downey Ventures, basketball star Kevin Durant's Durant Co. and Will Smith's Smith Family Circle.
While life insurance may not seem like a typical focus for Hollywood moguls, more and more venture capitalists are piling into the insurtech space. According to a May report from research firm CB Insights, the number of venture capital investors participating in the sector increased to 217 in 2017 from 53 in 2012. Since 2012, those investors have plowed $9 billion into the industry.
To stand out in a crowded field, Ethos uses the "the latest technology and predictive analytics," said co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Peter Colis, and cuts out paperwork for applicants. About "99% of our customers had no required medical exam, blood test or traditionally lengthy approval process," Colis said. People can instead sign up for life insurance within 10 minutes, and the company's plans start at $6 a month — with prices rising from there. "Using software, we can help large numbers of customers at scale, regardless of their policy size," Colis added.
