The founder secured $31 million to develop technology that protects AI liquid cooling systems as demand for high-performance data centres grows.
Artificial intelligence has sparked a race to build larger and more powerful data centres. As AI models become more advanced, the hardware powering them is generating unprecedented levels of heat, forcing operators to move beyond traditional air cooling.
That shift has created a new challenge: protecting the liquid cooling systems that keep billions of dollars’ worth of AI infrastructure running.
San Francisco-based Omen AI believes it has the answer. Founded by 20-year-old Zach Laberge, the startup has raised $31 million in Series A funding to develop technology that continuously monitors coolant inside AI data centres, helping operators prevent failures before they happen.
Solving an Overlooked AI Infrastructure Problem
The rapid growth of generative AI has dramatically increased demand for high-performance graphics processing units (GPUs). These chips consume enormous amounts of power and generate significantly more heat than previous generations.
Traditional air cooling is no longer sufficient for many AI clusters. Instead, operators are increasingly adopting liquid cooling systems that circulate coolant directly around servers.
However, the coolant itself can become contaminated by bacteria, microscopic metal particles, corrosion, and chemical degradation, reducing efficiency and increasing the risk of equipment failure.
Today, many data centre operators still rely on manually collecting coolant samples and sending them to laboratories, often waiting several days for results.
Omen AI replaces that process with sensors that analyse coolant continuously in real time.
A “Blood Test” for Data Centres
Laberge compares the company’s technology to a medical blood test.
Rather than waiting until problems become severe, Omen AI’s sensors continuously monitor coolant chemistry, detecting contaminants, bacterial growth, metal wear, and other warning signs before they lead to expensive downtime.
The system monitors more than 21 elemental signatures, allowing operators to identify failing pumps, worn components, damaged seals, or contamination long before they affect AI hardware.
Early detection can prevent operators from shutting down server racks to flush cooling systems, a process that can take several hours and result in millions of dollars in lost computing capacity.
From Construction Equipment to AI Infrastructure
Omen AI was not originally built for data centres.
Laberge founded the company in 2024 to develop fluid-monitoring sensors for heavy construction equipment, helping operators monitor machine health without sending fluid samples to laboratories.
The breakthrough came after the company began working with customers connected to the data centre industry.
As liquid cooling rapidly became standard for next-generation AI infrastructure, Laberge realised the same technology could solve a far larger commercial problem.
He has described the opportunity as being “100 times more valuable” than the company’s original market.
A Founder Who Took an Unconventional Path
Laberge’s entrepreneurial journey began well before Omen AI.
Growing up in Nova Scotia, Canada, he experimented with several small businesses, including selling smartwatches, operating a dog treat business, and running a tool rental platform.
At just 14 years old, he launched his first venture developing sensors for construction equipment, reportedly raising $3 million before eventually leaving high school to focus on building the company full time.
Today, Omen AI employs around 30 people in San Francisco, with Laberge saying he prioritises technical ability and practical skills over formal academic qualifications when hiring.
$31 Million to Scale the Business
Omen AI’s $31 million Series A round was led by Nava Ventures, with participation from CRV, Mann+Hummel, Sheryl Sandberg, and executives from AI cloud provider TensorWave, one of the company’s customers.
The latest investment brings Omen AI’s total funding to $41.5 million since its launch in 2024.
The company plans to use the new capital to expand engineering, accelerate manufacturing, and support a growing customer base as demand for liquid-cooled AI infrastructure continues to increase.
Growing Alongside the AI Boom
Omen AI sells both permanently installed monitoring systems and portable diagnostic devices through a subscription model priced according to a customer’s data centre capacity.
The startup currently serves more than a dozen customers, most of them specialised AI cloud providers, often referred to as “neoclouds.” It is also beginning to work with larger cloud infrastructure companies.
Beyond AI data centres, the company’s fluid-monitoring technology can also be used in industrial machinery and other equipment that relies on liquid systems.
Building the Infrastructure Behind Artificial Intelligence
While much of the AI industry’s attention focuses on chatbots, chips, and large language models, companies like Omen AI are solving the infrastructure challenges that make those technologies possible.
As liquid cooling becomes standard across next-generation AI data centres, tools that improve reliability, reduce downtime, and protect expensive computing infrastructure are expected to become increasingly important.
For Zach Laberge, identifying that overlooked opportunity has transformed a startup originally built for construction equipment into one positioned at the centre of the AI infrastructure boom.
Source: BI
Photo: Omen AI founder and CEO Zach Laberge. Omen AI
