Posted by Alumni from TechCrunch
November 2, 2026
That's an expensive and politically tricky proposition for investors throwing billions of dollars at the challenge of scaling up AI. One way to use less water is to do a better job monitoring the cooling fluids, a task that currently involves sending samples away to a laboratory for tests in a multi-day process. Omen AI was founded in 2024 to solve that problem. The company is building a real-time sensor to determine whether valves were failing, or if bacteria growth in the system threatened to choke off water flow. After raising a $31 million Series A in June, Omen is now acquiring competitor Aquatic Labs in a $16 million cash-and-stock deal. The deal came together after Omen founder Zach Laberge was introduced to Aquatic Labs' CEO Allan Adams by an investor in the filtration space. Both startups were building real-time water sensors with complementary technology: Omen's sensors looked for elements in the water, while the Aquatic Labs sensor tests its alkalinity. Putting those two... learn more