Ethos expands footprint in India, hires new managing director

US-based online life insurance provider Ethos appointed Vijay Ratnam as the new India Managing Director. Ratnam will lead the company's organisational culture, strategic resource management, and planning for growth and expansion in India. He will focus on talent development and building engineering and product teams in India.

In 2022, Ethos opened its first India office in Bengaluru and since then has provided growth and career advancement opportunities for its employees who are driving technology innovation in the insurance sector. Today, the Ethos workforce in India represents nearly every part of its business, and the opportunities continue to grow.

Peter Colis, CEO of Ethos, said, "Last year, Ethos established its India footprint and launched a full-stack office in Bengaluru. We have onboarded a team of high-quality tech talent that is contributing to our overall product innovation, new product launches, and customer experience. The response has been remarkable, and we are excited to see the progress made so far."

"Our plan is to continue to grow our world-class engineering, product, and revenue teams in India by leveraging the incredible pool of technical talent available locally, and Vijay will be instrumental in helping us achieve this. Ethos India is a strong component of our global workforce, representing nearly all parts of our business. Together, we are poised to achieve remarkable milestones and contribute to Ethos' continued success on the global stage."

Vijay Ratnam, India Managing Director, Ethos, said, "I am thrilled to join the team and embark on this exciting journey at Ethos India. What began as a modest team in 2022 has now evolved into a significant force. India hosts one of the world's largest reservoirs of tech and analytics talent. Our strategic vision involves establishing a significant business delivery team in India and assembling a cadre of specialists. We aim to achieve our mission of making life insurance accessible and affordable for all, positively impacting the lives of millions."

Ethos follows a technology-first approach that integrates complex decision flows with a radically simple consumer experience, to get high-quality insurance closer to its customers. Headquartered in Austin, it has employees in key technology and startup hubs, including Bengaluru, San Francisco, Seattle, Singapore, and more.

With nearly 95% instant approvals, Ethos has been growing at a significant rate and increasing its year-over-year momentum, and now aims to further expand its offerings by capitalising on the vast tech, IT, and data analytics talent pool available in India.

Insurtech company Ethos was founded with the goal of simplifying estate-related decisions and providing life insurance online in the US. It has raised over $400 million from an all-star cast of investors, including Softbank Vision Fund 2, Sequoia Capital, Accel, GV (formerly Google Ventures), General Catalyst, Jay-Z's Roc Nation, and investment vehicles of stars Will Smith and Robert Downey Jr.

In 2022, Ethos acquired Tomorrow Ideas and was able to fully integrate its critical financial instruments such as legal wills and trusts, free for its insurance customers, into the Ethos platform.