Seeding innovation, one start-up at a time

Hatch’s efforts to seed innovation and empower the Home Team with cutting-edge tech continued to gain traction as 11 start-ups from around the world showed off technologies that could be used to enhance public safety and security, at the Demo Day event for its 4th Dimension X cohort on 26 February.

Founded in 2023, Hatch is the innovation centre of HTX and works to curate and accelerate dual-use start-up technologies. Start-ups that make the cut for its Dimension X programme get to work closely with Champions – experts from either HTX or Home Team Departments – to solve public safety and security challenges.

The programme culminates with Demo Day, which is held twice a year.

Among the many innovations on show at this latest edition of Demo Day were an autonomous underwater navigation system for anomaly detection by Singaporean start-up AtlasRobotics, a transponder system enabling real-time communication and localisation by SpherePoint, and a tool that can detect deepfakes in images, videos and audio by Dtect Vision.

“Once again, our Demo Day has proved that successful innovation is a team sport. It has been both an honour and pleasure to work with so many bright minds from around the world to help our Home Team address some of the challenges it faces,” said Mok Shao Hong, the centre director for Hatch.

Those in attendance at the event included Xponents from the various Centres of Expertise (CoE), industry players, Home Team officers, as well as members of HTX senior management like Chief Executive Chan Tsan and Deputy Chief Executive (Operations) Chen Yeang Tat.

“The start-ups here have done a great job at rising to the challenges posed by HTX and the Home Team Departments. The innovations they have created certainly have the potential to make Home Team operations more efficient and effective. I’m excited to see these innovations quickly deployed to enhance Singapore’s safety and security,” said Yeang Tat.

A worthwhile endeavour

The start-ups had good things to say about the event, too.

Mike Kruger, the Chief Technology Officer of BeEmotion, which developed an AI-powered vision detection software capable of detecting suspicious behaviours, said that Dimension X marked the start-up’s first foray into the public security space and was a fruitful learning experience for the team.

Before joining Dimension X, BeEmotion’s products were primarily designed for customers in the automotive and healthcare industries.

“This experience has been so valuable for BeEmotion because it allowed us to learn so much about a new sector. It has also given us the knowledge to create new things which was not possible before,” he said.

“I’m quite certain that we will be following up on this experience by developing a new line of public security products that would expand our revenue streams.”

Another start-up that was present at Demo Day was ZeroMark, which worked with a representative from HTX’s Vehicle and Weapon Systems CoE to develop an anti-drone solution specially catered for Home Team use.

Those who have heard of this defence technology start-up might wonder why it was even a part of Dimension X. After all, it appears to be the sort of company that doesn’t exactly need the funding provided by the programme – it had, less than a year ago, secured US$7 million in a seed funding round led by prominent venture capital firms Ground Up Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz.

In fact, the company’s product, a counter-drone solution that combines computer vision with robotics, has already been used in several countries.

But to ZeroMark founder and CEO Joel Anderson, being a part of Dimension X was more about the intangible benefits – making new connections and learning about how business works in other parts of the world.

“I’ve learned so much about the regulatory environment in Singapore and other countries in the Indo-Pacific because of this experience. This has given me more confidence in expanding the business and pursuing defence contracting outside of the US,” said Joel.

Joel’s compatriot Eric Meschke, a software engineer with Cadre Research Labs, another US start-up that was part of Dimension X’s Cohort Four, shared similar sentiments.

In the case of Cadre Research Labs, the best part of the innovation programme was getting the chance to validate their technology in forensics use cases and pursuing a concept that it would unlikely have explored if not for this opportunity – developing a method to capture and analyse ballistic toolmarks from firearms without the conventional method of performing a test fire in a water tank.

Eric and his team worked with experts from HTX’s Forensics CoE to develop this solution.

“Chances are that we wouldn’t work on such a project back in the US because it would require a lot of resources and support that we were unlikely to secure. But thanks to Dimension X, this was all possible,” he said.

“We’re stoked that Dimension X has allowed us to prove that our proprietary gel-based 3D imaging and advanced visualisation platform can accurately match toolmarks to discharged bullets. I think that being able to generate marks without test firing can revolutionise the way forensic firearm analysis is done because it significantly reduces the amount of effort needed,” he added.

Home Team Champion explains tech developed by Cadre Research



For Manifold Tech, a Hong Kong-based start-up that specialises in 3D photogrammetry and robotics, being a part of Dimension X has allowed it to get one foot into a new industry – public safety and security – which could potentially give it a new source of revenue.

Before taking part in Dimension X, the start-up mainly serviced clients from the construction sector, which would rely on its tech to perform 3D reconstruction.

For Dimension X, Manifold Tech worked with a Champion from the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) to develop a prototype LiDAR-based system that combines its MindPalace Pocket handheld 3D scanner with a robotic dog powered by AI algorithms to perform fire scene analysis.

“The public safety and security space is totally new to us. Getting to learn from our counterparts at Hatch and the SCDF about this new sector was very enlightening. We now know that our tech can be used for other purposes other than just in the construction business,” said Rocky Shu, the Chief Marketing Officer of Manifold Tech.

Home Team Champion explains tech developed by Manifold Tech




Interested to be a part of Dimension X? Keep your eyes peeled for the open call for Cohort Six here!