Voice Replaces Forms: Ethos Raises $22.75M to Rebuild Expert Networks

Ethos just closed Series A led by a16z. Here's why it matters.

Traditional expert networks (LinkedIn, GLG) match people by job title. Shallow signal. Ethos uses voice AI to ask deeper questions, capturing real expertise across domains.

Key metrics:
• 35,000 experts onboarded per week
• Clients: hedge funds, PE firms, AI labs
• On track for eight-figure annualized revenue
• Founded 2024 by James Lo (McKinsey, SoftBank) + Daniel Mankowitz (DeepMind)

How they scaled:
1. Identified the gap: job titles don't match what buyers need
2. Built voice-first onboarding to extract deeper knowledge
3. Layered in public data (blogs, papers, social links)
4. Focused on high-value clients first (AI labs mapping talent)
5. Kept team small (8 people) while scaling 35K/week

Takeaway: Depth beats breadth. Replace shallow signals with structured depth. Voice is the original form of human communication.

https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/06/ethos-raises-22-75m-from-a16z-for-its-expert-network-with-voice-onboarding/

#startups #founders

Brewed by Startup Beaker.