TAK-HACK 2025: Brisbane’s First Defence Tech Hackathon Delivers Innovative Solutions

News, Press Release  |     |  

Beaten Zone Venture Partners successfully concluded TAK-HACK 2025, a three-day defence technology hackathon that brought together innovators, end users, and technologists to develop practical solutions for modern warfare challenges.

Event Overview

Held at The Precinct in Brisbane, TAK-HACK 2025 attracted over 120 expressions of interest from participants, supported by 27 mentors and 13 volunteers. The event focused on leveraging TAK (Team Awareness Kit) technology to address real-world defence challenges faced by allied warfighters.

The Solutions

Nine teams developed and pitched innovative solutions over the 54-hour event:

Winners

  • First Place: SLInt
    Digital beacons integrated into TAK to replace cyalume (glow) sticks for room clearance and tactical signalling.

  • Second Place: ThumbTAK
    A customisable plugin enabling rapid operator-level control and emergency integration.

  • Crowd Favourite: ThumbTAK

Additional Solutions

  • Rolling Through (Project ODIN)

  • TAK to the Future

  • The Sixth Man

  • SwiftEVAC

  • SEEL Team SIX (TAKRescue)

  • AC853 (CLEAR)

  • Edge Computing (Mission Mesh)

Industry Support

The event was supported by key industry partners and sponsors, including:

Expert Insights

The program featured presentations from industry leaders, including:

Assessment Criteria & Judges

Solutions were evaluated by a panel of industry experts:

  • Steve Baxter (Founder & Lead Investor, Beaten Zone Ventures)

  • Ross Newman (Founder, Astute Systems)

  • Nicola Kloet (Systems Engineer, Frequentis Australasia)

  • LTCOL Philip Wong (Australian Army BattleLab)

  • A senior Queensland Police Service representative

Strategic Impact

Steve Baxter highlighted the event’s significance:

“Hackathons like TAK-HACK create sovereign innovation under fire. In just one weekend we saw fresh ideas that could change how warfighters operate in complex environments. This kind of fast, practical problem solving is exactly what Australia needs to strengthen our national security.”

About TAK: The Team Awareness Kit (TAK) is a suite of software providing situational awareness, geospatial information, and advanced collaboration tools. Originally developed by the US Air Force Research Laboratory, TAK includes ATAK (Android), WinTAK (Windows), iTAK (Apple), and TAK Server (Linux).

About Beaten Zone Venture Partners: Headquartered in Brisbane, Beaten Zone Venture Partners invests in sovereign early-stage businesses with products that contribute to Australia’s national security.

Media Contact: For more information, contact steve@beatenzone.vc or peta@beatenzone.vc