Founder (CTO) - Fluid Monitoring Deep-Tech Venture

About ATUM Ventures

ATUM Ventures is a Singapore-based deep-technology venture builder and investor focused on transforming breakthrough intellectual property into thriving companies. With a portfolio of 15 ventures, ATUM delivers capital, operational expertise, and industry connections from venture capital, government, and corporate partners. Their investment philosophy centers on scaling real deep-tech innovations rather than speculative hype.

The Venture Opportunity

Liquid cooling is rapidly becoming vital infrastructure for AI data centers, making the coolant fluid a critical monitored asset. Current monitoring approaches remain outdated—relying on manual sample collection and lab analysis that take days, often identifying corrosion after damage has occurred.

This venture aims to revolutionize coolant monitoring with an inline platform developed at NTU employing laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy to directly detect and quantify dissolved metal contaminants in real time. Unlike existing optical sensors that infer condition indirectly, this technology precisely identifies corrosion and component degradation speed.

The initial market segment targets data center operators facing emerging reliability and compliance challenges as direct liquid cooling adoption surges without existing inline elemental analysis solutions. This deep-tech platform is positioned at the core of AI infrastructure growth, combining validated technology, clear market demand, and a pathway to category leadership.

Role Overview

As the founding Chief Technology Officer (CTO), you will direct the technology vision and govern system architecture. You'll collaborate closely with NTU inventors and the ATUM venture team to transition a lab-proven approach into a ruggedized inline product suitable for manufacturing and live deployment in cooling loops. Key responsibilities include:

• Advancing the platform from scientific validation to robust, deployable hardware
• Confirming functional performance within real-world coolant chemistries and spearheading initial operator pilot programs
• Recruiting and leading the core engineering team, establishing the foundation of the technical organization
• Partnering on pre-seed and seed capital raises alongside the CEO and ATUM
• Expanding intellectual property by layering new innovations on licensed core technology

This executive role entails shared entrepreneurial risk and reward as a core founder deeply engaged in building transformative technology.

Candidate Profile

• Proven expertise in transitioning optical, analytical, or sensing instruments from prototype to reliable product deployed in the field
• Extensive technical competence in at least one of optics, photonics, embedded systems, or signal processing with the versatility to collaborate across these domains, spanning hardware, fluidics, and software integration
• A strong focus on productization including design-for-manufacture, reliability engineering, cost-effective bill of materials, and scalability for volume field deployment
• Self-driven with a high degree of ownership and proactivity—thriving amidst ambiguity without requiring directive management
• Committed and resilient with the capacity to engage full-time, recognizing that deep-tech hardware development requires persistence, iterative refinement, and endurance

Advantages of Joining ATUM and This Venture

• Work with a solid technology foundation and proven market need rather than a nebulous concept
• Participate as a genuine founding CTO, receiving meaningful equity ownership
• Benefit from pre-seed funding provided by ATUM, access to grants, and subsequent investor capital rounds
• Engage with hands-on partners who actively support product development, go-to-market strategies, and fundraising beyond just capital investment
• Gain access to an established ecosystem of labs, technical specialists, early adopter customers, and domain experts