Ladder

Ladder offers individuals and their families quick, online access to life insurance that is easy to adapt as their lives change.

Ladder focuses on simple and speedy term life insurance. Their application process can be completed within five minutes, and the venture offers an instant decision. Their insurance offering is flexible even after purchase – consumers can change their cover as their circumstances change, meaning they only have to pay for the cover they actually need.

In 2019, the startup introduced Ladder for Advisors, a platform where advisors can share relevant materials with clients, who, in turn, can apply for an instant decision on fully underwritten term coverage - ranging from $100k to $8m, from 10 - 30 years. Policies are issued by Fidelity Security Life Insurance, and advisors are given a dashboard to monitor coverage rates in real time.

That same year, the company partnered with online bank Radius, offering its personal banking clients access to life insurance policies. It also joined Charles Schwab's marketplace in September, offering 'Ladder Scenarios', which enables advisors to identify a client's potential savings by optimising their coverage. It will be the first life insurance solution offered on the Schwab OpenView MarketSquare.

Ladder partnered with Bermuda-based reinsurer PartnerRe in October 2020. The move comes shortly after Ladder announced it had expanded its partnership with Hannover Re in the US.

In October 2021 Ladder raised $100 million at a $900 million valuation to build its platform for selling flexible term life insurance. Ladder has had a strong year of growth with revenues growing four-fold. The platform is now on track to issue $30 billion in coverage by the end of this year.

In January 2023 Ladder partnered with AmeriSave Mortgage Partners to help protect AmeriSave's customers with flexible, accessible life cover.  

Co-founder and CEO Jamie Hale was previously a founding partner at Aldenwood Capital, a specialised private investment firm, while fellow co-founder Jeff Merkel has previously held Director positions at Google, Admob and Motorola. Ladder has received investment from Canaan Partners, Nightspeed Venture Partners and more.