Ethos

Ethos is a life insurance technology company that aims to make financial protection more accessible and straightforward for families. Founded in 2016 by Peter Colis and Lingke Wang, the company grew from the founders’ view that buying life insurance was often slow, confusing, and difficult to navigate. Ethos says it uses technology and data to simplify the process and make applying for coverage available online.

Ethos offers access to term and permanent life insurance through an online application. Its website describes term coverage for a defined period and permanent options that can include guaranteed-acceptance whole life and indexed universal life. Product availability, eligibility, coverage amounts, and terms depend on the applicant, state, policy, and carrier; Ethos notes that products and features are not available everywhere.

The application process is designed to be completed digitally. Applicants answer health questions online, and Ethos uses its underwriting technology to assess applications and provide decisions. The company says many applicants can receive an instant decision and that most do not need a medical exam. Actual approval times and coverage depend on individual circumstances and the applicable policy.

Ethos acts as an insurance producer and works with insurance carriers that issue the policies. Its role includes helping consumers explore coverage and connecting them with carrier products; the carrier, rather than Ethos, is responsible for issuing and underwriting the insurance contract. Ethos describes its platform as serving consumers, agents, and carrier partners, with technology intended to streamline how life insurance is distributed and underwritten.

In addition to insurance, Ethos provides access to online estate-planning documents, including wills and trusts, through its wholly owned subsidiary Ethos Estate Planning, LLC. The company distinguishes those services from its insurance products and states that its estate-planning subsidiary is not a law firm and does not provide legal, financial, investment, accounting, or tax advice.

Ethos’s stated purpose is to make life insurance more affordable, accessible, and transparent, and to help families protect their financial futures. Its company history traces the idea to co-founder Lingke Wang’s experience purchasing an unsuitable, expensive policy and to the founders’ ambition to improve a process they considered outdated. Ethos presents its work as combining industry expertise, technology, and human support to make coverage easier to understand and obtain.

The company lists a mailing address in Austin, Texas, and an office in San Francisco, California. Its public materials invite prospective employees to help build the future of the life insurance industry, but the available company sources do not provide further detailed information about internal working practices or culture.