Omen AI strikes $16 million deal for Aquatic Labs to monitor data-center coolant

Omen AI announced a $16 million cash-and-stock acquisition of Aquatic Labs on November 2, 2026, bringing ocean-sensing research into its data-center cooling business. The deal adds technology designed to measure water chemistry continuously. Omen’s aim is to catch problems between scheduled laboratory tests, before changing fluid conditions interrupt the cooling that keeps AI chips running.

Aquatic Labs’ team, intellectual property and sensor research are part of the transaction. Founder Allan Adams will become Omen’s chief science officer and lead research and development. Omen described the transaction as an acquisition, but did not explicitly state whether it had closed.

The deal began with an introduction from an investor in the filtration industry, TechCrunch reported. The investor connected Omen founder Zach Laberge with Adams. Both startups were building real-time water sensors, but their technologies measured different aspects of the fluid.

Two different views of the same fluid

Omen’s existing technology analyzes elements in cooling fluid and monitors biological contamination. Aquatic Labs adds a different measurement: total alkalinity, or the fluid’s ability to neutralize acid. According to Omen, Aquatic’s technology takes that reading in real time without adding chemicals for each test.

Together, those measurements can help operators assess the risk of mineral buildup and corrosion, the company says. Adams told TechCrunch that combining the technologies creates a “much richer picture of the water and the fluid.” The teams are working to put both technologies into one sensor.

Adams brings experience from outside the data-center business. Before founding Aquatic Labs, he worked in theoretical physics and ocean monitoring, including as an MIT physics professor and visiting oceanographer at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. His new remit covers research across Omen’s sensing technologies, not just the acquired sensor.

Laberge arrived at cooling-fluid analysis from another direction: his first company did similar work for large construction machines that rely on hydraulics, TechCrunch reported. Adams’ ocean work has a chemical connection to cooling systems. As he explained in the announcement, the chemistry that builds coral reefs also produces scale in coffee machines and fouls data-center cooling loops.

The cost of waiting for a sample

Cooling-fluid testing can involve sending samples to a laboratory and waiting several days for results, TechCrunch reported. Omen, founded in 2024, puts sensors directly on fluid systems so measurements continue while equipment runs. Its stated purpose is to catch changes between scheduled tests, rather than leave operators relying only on periodic samples.

The risks include equipment wear and biological growth that can restrict water flow. When fluid conditions go wrong, operators typically discard the water rather than risk damaging expensive equipment, according to TechCrunch. Restoring the fluid system means shutting down operations. Monitoring is intended to help operators keep using the same fluid longer and reduce cleanup costs.

Adams also sees a role beyond protecting chips. He told TechCrunch he hopes the technology will help track water as it passes through data centers and returns to municipal water systems. His argument is that measuring the water is necessary to manage that process safely and responsibly.

To automate treatment, you first need enough information to understand what is happening in the fluid.

Zach Laberge, Omen AI founder and CEO, in the acquisition announcement

Monitoring first, automatic treatment later

Omen expects to begin shipping products with the added monitoring capabilities by the end of 2026. TechCrunch described a somewhat different milestone: the combined teams expect a single sensor integrating both technologies to reach the market by early 2027. Neither timetable is a statement that the integrated product is already shipping.

The longer-term plan goes beyond alerting people to a problem. Omen wants to connect fluid analysis to equipment that can adjust coolant chemistry within approved limits, then continue measuring to verify the results. That would link detection, intervention and checking the outcome, with the goal of reducing manual testing and maintenance work.

For its initial sensors, Laberge told TechCrunch he expects coverage of chips drawing 250 to 300 megawatts by year-end, with a goal of reaching the equivalent of one gigawatt by the end of 2027. Those are deployment targets for Omen’s sensors, separate from the work still needed to turn additional measurements into automated treatment.