Omen AI acquires Aquatic Labs for $16 million to boost real-time water monitoring in data centers

Omen AI announced on Thursday that it has completed a $16 million cash-and-stock acquisition of rival Aquatic Labs. The deal brings together two real-time water-sensor platforms with the goal of giving AI data-center operators a more detailed picture of their cooling fluids and reducing costly shutdowns.

U.S. data centers currently consume between 17 and 19 billion gallons of water each year to keep high-performance chips cool, a figure the Water Foundation expects to triple within five years. Existing monitoring practices rely on sending fluid samples to external labs, a process that can take several days and leaves operators blind to emerging problems such as valve failures or bacterial growth.

Founded in 2024, Omen AI set out to replace the slow, manual approach with an on-site sensor that reports water-quality anomalies in real time. After raising a $31 million Series A round in June, the company moved to acquire Aquatic Labs, whose technology focuses on measuring water alkalinity. The two firms were introduced by an investor active in the filtration space, and their complementary capabilities quickly made a strategic fit. “Putting those two technologies in the same sensor creates a much richer picture of the water and the fluid,” Aquatic Labs CEO Allan Adams told TechCrunch.

The combined team now includes Adams as chief science officer alongside Omen founder Zach Laberge. Laberge, a high-school dropout who previously built fluid-analysis tools for heavy-construction hydraulics, and Adams, a former MIT professor and Woods Hole researcher, represent the classic blend of a serial entrepreneur and an academic scientist. Their joint effort will integrate element detection and alkalinity measurement into a single sensor, with a market launch targeted for early next year.

Omen’s initial rollout will focus on chips drawing 250 to 300 megawatts of power, a segment valued at roughly $5 to $7 billion. Laberge said the company aims to have its sensors deployed on the equivalent of one gigawatt of chips by the end of 2027. By catching fluid-system issues early, operators can avoid dumping cooling water, a practice that halts operations and incurs significant expense. Continuous monitoring also promises to extend the usable life of the same water, lowering both operational costs and environmental impact.

Adams sees applications beyond data centers, noting that water exiting these facilities eventually enters municipal supplies. “You want that whole process to happen in a way that’s as safe and responsible as possible,” he said, emphasizing the broader relevance of precise fluid measurement.

Investor sentiment toward AI infrastructure spending has cooled after forecasts of up to $4 trillion in expenditures by 2030 were tempered by recent market volatility. Nonetheless, Laberge remains confident, pointing out that Omen’s customers are already built or financed, with most projects secured a year ago. “Even if the market shrinks, this remains the biggest market in human history, even if you sliced it in half,” he added.

Looking ahead, the integrated sensor platform could become a standard component of future AI data-center designs, offering a scalable solution to a looming water-use challenge. The industry will be watching whether Omen can deliver on its early-next-year timeline and expand its reach into other water-intensive sectors.