Ladder
Palo Alto, US · Founded 2015 · 118 employees on LinkedIn · 13 known investors
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Ladder offers life insurance online with real-time underwriting that can provide coverage on the spot. The company sells direct to consumers seeking to protect their families, operating in the insurtech and life insurance space.
Also known as Ladder Insurance · Ladder Life
Founders & leadership
Ladder was founded in 2015 by Jamie Hale.
Investors · 13
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Ladder is a digital life insurance agency that sells term life insurance directly to consumers online. Applicants answer a set of health questions in an application that the company says takes roughly five minutes, and the process is fully digital — no doctors, needles or paperwork — for coverage amounts up to $3 million. Applications above $3 million may require a free at-home health check. Policies are issued by third-party insurers that Ladder describes as highly rated.
The product centers on adjustable term coverage: policyholders can reduce coverage over time ("laddering") as obligations such as a mortgage are paid down or children become independent, or keep the amount unchanged. Term lengths referenced by the company span 10 to 30 years. Ladder offers a 30-day money-back guarantee with a full refund and allows cancellation at any time without cancellation fees, and it maintains a customer experience team plus a self-service help center. The company states it has provided more than $110 billion in coverage.
Founding story
The company's stated motivation comes from CEO Jamie Hale, who lost his father at age 11 and saw how life insurance supported his family, leading him to build a simpler way for others to obtain coverage [2].
Business model
Ladder operates as a digital agency: it markets, underwrites in real time and administers term life insurance policies that are issued by partner insurance carriers, rather than acting as the issuing insurer itself [0][3].
Traction
Ladder reports more than $110 billion of coverage provided and displays live application activity on its site [0][1].
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market
Market position
Ladder presents itself as a modernizer of the traditional life insurance industry and cites recognitions including "Best Flexible Term Life Insurance" and placement among "Best of No-Exam Life Insurance Companies" [0][2].
Ladder positions itself on three attributes — speed (real-time underwriting that may yield on-the-spot coverage), ease (a fully online process with no in-person requirements) and affordability (no hidden fees) — plus the ability to adjust coverage downward over the life of a policy [0][2].
Technology
Ladder uses real-time underwriting driven by an online health questionnaire, enabling on-the-spot coverage decisions and an end-to-end digital application with no medical exam for policies up to $3 million [0][2][3].
Go-to-market
Direct-to-consumer online sales through ladderlife.com, where prospective customers get a price quote and apply, supported by a customer experience team, a coverage calculator and an online help center [0][3].
Consumers in the United States seeking term life insurance to protect dependents, including people with mortgages, children or other family financial obligations [0][2].
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
In the news
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- Ladderladderlife.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Ladder do?
- Ladder is a digital life insurance agency selling flexible term life policies online with real-time underwriting.
- Who founded Ladder?
- Ladder was founded by Jamie Hale in 2015.
- Who are Ladder's investors?
- Ladder's investors include Brewer Lane Ventures, Canaan Partners, Geodesic Capital, Inspired Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Nyca, Nyca Partners, Peterson Ventures and 5 more.
- Where is Ladder headquartered?
- Ladder is headquartered in Palo Alto, US.