Ex-Lloyd’s Lab head Ed Gaze scoops new role at alumnus insurtech

Ed Gaze, former head of innovation at Lloyd’s of London for the marketplace’s accelerator scheme – Lloyd’s Lab - has joined insurtech ValueSpace as an investor and advisor.

ValueSpace, formerly called Sille Space, was part of Lloyd’s Lab’s fourth cohort, which started in April 2020. ValueSpace was incorporated in May 2022. 

It uses satellite-based technology to provide risk assessments for global infrastructure - the insurtech currently works with several tier one insurers internationally.

The firm aims to revolutionise how the global insurance market and public sector monitors and protects critical national infrastructure - this describes assets that are essential for the functioning of a society and economy.

This would include monitoring dam failures, for example. Data from intergovernmental organisation the United Nations, published in 2021, showed that between 2015 and 2019, there were 170 dam failures globally - this is more than the combined total of recorded dam failures between 1950 to 2015.

Reijo Pold, co-founder and chief strategy officer at ValueSpace, said: “Gaze is well known for his expertise of integrating insurtech solutions into the wider Lloyd’s and global insurance markets, so he will be able to bring our technological solution into the mainstream for insurers’ risk assessment and underwriting functions.”

Impressive proposition

UK-based ValueSpace, which also has offices in Tallinn, Estonia, is a member of industry trade association Insurtech UK, as well as part of the first cohort of the Department for International Trade’s UK-US Insurtech Corridor – a financial services commercial trade partnership launched between the UK and US governments in March 2022 to support UK insurtechs with US expansion plans.

Speaking about the insurtech, Gaze said: “ValueSpace is a perfect example of how technology can transform the global insurance market and I am excited to support it in its journey to scale up its business in the UK, US and beyond.

“I first came into contact with ValueSpace back when they were called Sille Space, during cohort four of the Lloyd’s Lab. I was really impressed with [its] value proposition and clearly saw how [its] solution could have an immediate impact on improving risk assessments for insurers and helping infrastructure providers with their environmental, social and governance (ESG) obligations.

“This became a reality when [it] continued to work with the Lloyd’s market beyond the conclusion of the cohort.”

Pold added: “The commercial property and casualty insurance sector market size in gross written premium was circa $844.5bn (£692.2bn) in 2020 and is set to grow significantly in the years ahead as climate change and ageing infrastructure collide.

“We are tackling two global problems that are converging and I am glad that Gaze is onboard to help with this from an insurance and ESG perspective, whilst also keeping communities and the environment safe.”

Gaze has been shortlisted in Insurance Times’ Technology and Innovation Awards 2022, in the Technology Champion of the Year category. Voting for this category’s winner closes on 31 August 2022. 

• Insurance Times has converted dollar amounts into pounds using an exchange rate of £1 = $1.22, which was correct as of 1 August 2022.