Jan 28 (Reuters) - Ethos Technologies and some of its shareholders raised about $200 million in a U.S. initial public offering, the insurance platform said on Wednesday.
The company and the selling shareholders sold 10.5 million shares at $19 apiece, the midpoint of its targeted range of $18 to $20 a share.
The IPO valued Ethos at about $1.2 billion, based on the number of shares outstanding mentioned in its prospectus.
Ethos, backed by venture capital firms Accel and Sequoia, said its platform and underwriting
engine transform the buying, selling, and risk management of life insurance, helping customers secure coverage in minutes rather than months.
Listings are expected to pick up pace in 2026, following a multi-year slowdown and a partial recovery last year, as markets trade at record levels, investor risk appetite improves and venture capital firms seek exits.
The insurance sector has also drawn steady demand from IPO investors, with listings hitting a 20-year high on Wall Street in 2025, driven by strong revenue growth and the industry's "tariff-proof" nature.
Investor appetite has risen for the life insurance sector, drawn by recurring revenue, resilient consumer demand and pricing power — even during economic downturns.
Ethos' revenue surged roughly 47% to $277.5 million in the nine months ended September 30, compared with $188.4 million in the year-earlier period.
The firm said it has activated more than 500,000 policies since its inception and, as of September 30, it had over 10,000 active selling agents and several active carriers on its platform.
The company's shares will start trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol "LIFE" on Thursday.
Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan are the lead underwriters of the IPO.
(Reporting by Bipasha Dey and Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu, Alan Barona and Rashmi Aich)
