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You know you’re old when: Jay-Z backed insurance platform raises $35m

Ethos, a startup pushing a new, reportedly more efficient and affordable life insurance product, announced today that it has raised a Series B financing round of $35m.

The round was led by Accel, a growth stage VC firm, with additional investors including Google Ventures, and a subsidiary of Roc Nation – Jay-Z’s entertainment company.

Ethos what? Ethos who?

Ethos makes its money by extending an online and mobile sales line to insurance policies created by life insurance company Assurity Life.

Their hook is, Instead of selling “permanent” life insurance (which payers often let lapse or opt out over time for a loss), Ethos sees itself as a more “equitable” insurance provider, offering a form of life insurance that allows policyholders to pay for a fixed period of time.

Seems like a big investment for insurance

Life insurance is definitely not the sexiest of investments, but, for some reason, investment companies with high-profile faces from Hollywood have shown interest.

The company’s previous $11.5m round came from Kevin Durant’s Durant Company and Will Smith’s firm, Smith Family circle, among others.

Ethos has seen customers and applications grow by more than 400% in the past 4 months, which leads us to the most important question: Are these celebrities tuned in to a major market disruption?