Austin-based insurtech startup Ethos is setting up an office in India and will consider hiring around 100-150 staff for its Bengaluru office next year. Ethos, valued at $2.7 billion, is a technology platform that partners with US insurance companies to offer life insurance to customers. The firm focuses on customer acquisition, underwriting, risk selection, and policy management.

“Our short-term goal is to hire 100 to 150 people in the next year. This will be around 30 per cent of our global workforce, which is an important part of our growth plan. We hope to increase this number in the future,” Wang said. Hiring will involve engineering R&D, data analytics, data science, and operations.

In addition to Austin, the company has offices in San Francisco, Seattle, and Singapore and issued $13 billion in life insurance last year. In 2021, its total revenue and users will grow by more than 600 per cent year on year.
Ethos has raised over $400 million in funding from investors, including:
• SoftBank Vision Fund 2
• Sequoia Capital
• Accelerate
• GV (formerly Google Ventures)
• General Catalyst
• Jay-Z’s ROC
Its investors also include Hollywood actors Will Smith and Robert Downey Jr.

“India’s startup ecosystem and niche capabilities, such as data science and analytics, have gained global recognition. In a strategic move, Ethos has established a footprint in India with a full-stack office in Bangalore and attracted high-calibre talent that will help Hitesh Gossain, General Manager, Growth and Strategy, Ethos India.

He added: “We aim to recruit more aggressively throughout 2022 and build a first-class team of specialists.” Currently, India’s insurance sector has more general insurance providers, and the industry has seen significant funding interest over the past year.

The insurtech space consists of insurance brokerage platforms such as Policybazaar, Paytm, Coverfox, and digital general insurance companies, including unicorns Acko and Digit. Platforms like Policybazaar and Turtlemint can also help consumers compare policies before choosing the right one.

When it comes to insurance, India is one of the least penetrated markets. According to Swiss Re’s sigma world insurance report, India’s insurance penetration stood at 4.2 per cent in FY21. This is in stark contrast to the global average insurance penetration of 7.4 per cent.

Life insurance penetration is 3.2 per cent, and non-life insurance penetration is 1 per cent. India’s insurance density (i.e., premiums per capita) was $78 in FY21, more than ten times higher than the world average for this period of $809.

Commenting on the Indian market, Wang said: “It’s underpenetrated. In life insurance in many regions, people don’t have the right coverage. I hope that will change in the future as technology continues to evolve. But I think a lot of it comes down to a matter of education and helping people understand how insurance works.