Omen AI has completed a $16 million cash-and-stock acquisition of Aquatic Labs to integrate real-time alkalinity testing into its existing water-sensing technology.
Omen AI, a San Francisco-based startup founded in 2024, has acquired competitor Aquatic Labs in a $16 million cash-and-stock deal, according to reports from TechCrunch and mezha.net.
The acquisition combines the complementary technologies of both companies to create a single sensor capable of providing a "much richer picture of the water and the fluid," according to Aquatic Labs CEO Allan Adams.
By integrating these capabilities, the companies aim to replace manual testing processes that currently require sending water samples to laboratories for multi-day analysis. The combined team expects to bring an integrated sensor to market by early 2027, though Omen AI expects to begin shipping products incorporating the new capabilities by the end of 2026.
U.S. data centers use between 17 and 19 billion gallons of water annually to cool chips, a figure The Water Foundation expects to triple within the next five years. As AI infrastructure expands, monitoring cooling fluids becomes critical for preventing equipment damage and reducing costs.
Data center operators often choose to dump cooling fluid rather than risk damage to expensive equipment, which can lead to costly operational shutdowns. Real-time monitoring is intended to help operators use the same fluid for longer and minimize cleanup costs.
Omen AI founder Zach Laberge stated that the company's initial sensors are expected to monitor chips drawing 250 to 300 MW of power by the end of the year, a chip base he valued at approximately $5 billion to $7 billion. The company aims to have its systems installed on the equivalent of 1 GW of chips by the end of 2027.
Regarding recent investor skepticism concerning AI infrastructure spending, Laberge noted that Omen AI's work is not significantly affected because their customers are working on projects that were financed approximately 12 months ago. "Our view is, if there’s tightness, this is still going to be the biggest market in human history, even if you sliced it in half," Laberge said.
Following the acquisition, Allan Adams, a physicist and former MIT professor and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute researcher, will serve as Omen AI's chief science officer.
Omen AI has raised a total of $46 million in funding, including a $31 million Series A in June. Investors include Nava Ventures, CRV, Sheryl Sandberg, Brian Halligan, Mann+Hummel, Caffeinated Capital, Vanderbilt, Genius Ventures, and LMNT Ventures.
Sources
This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.
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