Ethos

Co-founder & CTO @ Ethos Ex. Staff Research Scientist @Deepmind, AlphaDev, MuZero for Video Compression, AlphaCode #deeplearning #reinforcementlearning

Ethos is a London-based expert network that uses an AI voice agent to onboard professionals and match them with paid work, ranging from one-off expert calls and research surveys to AI model training and fractional or full-time roles. Rather than relying on the form-based job-title profiles used by incumbents like GLG, Third Bridge, and Alphasights, Ethos interviews experts by voice to capture sub-specializations and skills that titles miss , then lets clients query the network in natural language for needs as specific as doctors who have published on a particular subject or operators who built finance automation at a top-tier-backed startup. The launch coincides with a $22.75M Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz, with General Catalyst, XTX Markets, Evantic Capital, and Common Magic also participating. Ethos was founded in 2024 by James Lo, previously at McKinsey and SoftBank where he worked on the WeWork and Arm transformations, and Daniel Mankowitz, a former DeepMind research scientist whose work included AlphaDev, the AlphaCode and MuZero lines, and YouTube video compression. The pitch to experts is a counter-narrative to AI-driven layoffs, framing knowledge as a recurring revenue stream rather than something to be automated away. For founders, investors, and operators, the relevance is twofold. On the demand side, Ethos says hedge funds, private equity firms, foundational AI labs, and enterprise consultancies are already paying, with the company taking 30% or more per project , riding a tailwind from labs spending heavily to map every economically valuable profession for model training and product feedback. On the supply side, the company reports roughly 35,000 people joining each week through invitations , which sets up the core question this round will test, whether voice-captured expertise produces materially better matches than the form-driven incumbents at a scale large clients will commit to.

Tags

Comments (9)