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By Arasu Kannagi Basil<\/p>\n
Jan 20 (Reuters) – Ethos Technologies, backed by venture capital firms Accel and Sequoia, said on Tuesday it was targeting \u200ba valuation of up to $1.26 billion in its U.S. initial \u200cpublic offering, as a surge in insurance company listings extends into 2026.<\/p>\n
First-time share sales from insurance \u200cfirms hit a 20-year high on Wall Street last year as investors flocked to firms insulated from U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war.<\/p>\n
The life insurance technology company and some of its backers are seeking up to $210.5 million by selling \u206010.5 million shares priced \u200cbetween $18 and $20 apiece.<\/p>\n
Ethos is offering 5.1 million shares, while shareholders such as Alphabet’s venture capital arm GV and General Catalyst \u200dare selling 5.4 million shares.<\/p>\n
The 2026 IPO market is expected to shake off a relatively quiet start as companies that postponed listings last year amid a historic U.S. \u200bgovernment shutdown return to the fray.<\/p>\n
“The first few weeks may be a \u200cbit quieter than we expected, but it’s not unusual to see companies want to wait for others to test the waters,” said Matt Kennedy, senior \u200dstrategist at Renaissance Capital, a provider of IPO-focused research and ETFs.<\/p>\n
“It feels like everyone’s lined up at the start of a race, waiting for the gun \u2060to fire.”<\/p>\n
Founded in 2016, Ethos offers life \u200binsurance to families across the U.S through its \u200bdigital platform.<\/p>\n
The company posted a $46.6 million profit on revenue of $277.5 million in the nine months ended September 30, up from a \u200dprofit of $39.3 million \u2060on revenue of $188.4 million a year earlier.<\/p>\n
In 2021, the company had raised $100 million from Japanese conglomerate SoftBank at a $2.7 billion valuation.<\/p>\n
Goldman Sachs and \u2060J.P. Morgan are the lead book-running managers for the IPO. Ethos will list on the \u200cNasdaq under the symbol “LIFE.”<\/p>\n
(Reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru; Editing \u200cby Vijay Kishore and Sahal Muhammed)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n