How Sequoia-Backed Ethos Reached The Public Market While Rivals Fell Short

Ethos IPO debuts on Nasdaq as rare profitable insurtech, bucking industry trends with disciplined growth amid market turbulence.
Matilda
How Sequoia-Backed Ethos Reached The Public Market While Rivals Fell Short
Ethos IPO Signals New Era for Profitable Insurtech Ethos Technologies went public on January 29, 2026, raising $200 million in one of the year's first major tech IPOs. The San Francisco-based life insurance platform priced 10.5 million shares at $19 each under the ticker "LIFE," closing its first trading day at $16.85. Unlike rivals that collapsed or pivoted, Ethos reached profitability by mid-2023 and maintains 50%+ year-over-year revenue growth—a rarity in today's capital-constrained market. Credit: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg / Getty Images The insurtech space has been littered with casualties over the past three years. Yet Ethos emerged not just intact but thriving. How did a company in one of fintech's most challenging verticals navigate the post-2022 funding winter while competitors vanished? The answer lies in a deliberate pivot toward unit economics over vanity metrics—a lesson now resonating across Silicon Valley. Why Ethos Survived When Others Crumbled When Etho…