附近上门

Insurtech startup has raised $35 million in a Series B round of financing led by .

The funding comes less than five months after the San Francisco-based company emerged from stealth and announced an .

also participated in the latest round, along with previous investors and , a subsidiary of , and a debt facility from . With the latest financing, Partner will join the Ethos board of directors, and GV General Partner will join the company鈥檚 board as an advisor.

Ethos says its mission is to make 鈥渕odern, ethical life insurance鈥� accessible to the masses through its proprietary technology, according to its website.

The company claims it makes getting a life insurance policy 鈥渇ast, easy and inexpensive鈥� by 鈥渢urning a process that was once like going to the DMV to more like shopping online,鈥� according to a press release. It is licensed in 49 states.

A prospective customer can apply and qualify for a policy in about 10 minutes, CEO and co-founder told 附近上门 News, without having to go through medical exams or blood tests鈥攁s most people do when applying through more traditional life insurance providers. That鈥檚 because the company applies data science and predictive analytics to determine an individual鈥檚 life expectancy, he said. Ethos鈥檚 workers are all salaried, so they don鈥檛 work on commission and aren鈥檛 trying to 鈥渦psell鈥� customers, according to Colis. He and his former Stanford University grad school roommate, , previously founded secondary life insurance marketplace .

Accel鈥檚 Niparko believes the $955 billion life insurance industry has had a 鈥減roduct and reputation problem鈥� for some time.

鈥淓thos takes a technology-first approach to eliminate friction from the applications and claims process for its customers and has built a brand that people love and trust,鈥� he said in a written statement.

Since its official launch in June 2018, the company has seen its revenue, customers, and applications grow by more than 400 percent, according to Colis. (Of course, that鈥檚 starting from a base of zero.) It processes thousands of applications a month, he said.

The startup has attracted a bevy of investors in just six months鈥� time. Besides some of Silicon Valley鈥檚 most prominent VCs, Ethos has also raised money from , actor Robert Downey Jr.’s , NBA player , and actor .

The company plans to use its latest capital to accelerate growth and continue refining its product and risk analysis abilities, according to Colis. It currently has 30 employees and aims to hire another 20 to 30 over the next few months, with a focus on engineering, product, and marketing staff.

鈥淲e鈥檙e growing very quickly without having to do a hard sell,鈥� Colis told 附近上门 News. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an automated business and people like the simple approach.鈥�

Ethos is just one of a number of startups working to digitize the insurance industry. In July, small business digital insurance provider Next Insurance raised $83 million in a Series B round led by . and have also gained traction from investors looking to influence the user-led future of policy purchases.