Omen AI Raises $31M in Series A Funding Led by Nava Ventures

The round also saw participation from CRV, Sheryl Sandberg, Mike Mattacola, Vanderbilt University, Mann+Hummel, Starhill Holdings, Hard Launch Capital, and executives from Bridgestone, GM, Johnson Controls, and TensorWave.

The company plans to use the funding to speed up product development, increase manufacturing of its sensor products, and expand its operations in the data center and heavy machinery logistics markets.

Read More:Straiker Raises $64M in Series A Funding Led by Citi Ventures

Liquid-cooled chips use a coolant made of water and bacteria-inhibiting chemicals. Adding more water improves cooling but also increases the risk of bacterial contamination, which can clog the cooling system. Fixing the problem often requires shutting down equipment for several hours, leading to costly downtime.

Omen AI addresses this issue with a compact spectrometer that continuously monitors coolant quality in real time. The system detects bacterial growth early, helping data center operators prevent contamination, and avoid expensive shutdowns.

After his previous startup closed, Zach Laberge founded Omen in 2024 to help make construction equipment smarter by monitoring the condition of fluids in real time. The company's technology replaces the traditional process of collecting samples and sending them to a lab. In addition to detecting bacterial growth, the system can identify signs of wear in pumps and seals by detecting metals and other materials in the fluid.

Caterpillar dealerships became some of Omen's first customers in the heavy equipment market. Because Caterpillar also supplies power systems used by data centers, Omen soon recognized a growing opportunity to apply its technology to the rapidly expanding data center industry.

The key tech advances that unlocked this approach are recent improvements in both optical technologies and signal processing software. "Hardware is just cheap enough that it makes sense to play at scale, and then signal processing lets us make more sense out of the noise," Laberge said.

"The fluid running through these massive systems is a critical variable that most of the industry is flying blind on," Piotr Tomasik, TensorWave's president, said in a statement. "Omen … see the future of infrastructure exactly the way we do, better monitoring to support compute customers optimally."

"It's rare to see such a young founder who has the respect of established, large corporations in a space that moves a bit more slowly," said Cory Rellas, a partner at Nava Ventures who sits on Omen's board. "For Omen in particular, much of our diligence came through our introductions with large customers, which quickly validated their approach."

About Omen AI

Founded in 2024 by Zach Laberge, Omen AI develops inline spectroscopic sensors and portable diagnostic devices that monitor oil, coolant, and water systems in real time. Its technology detects metal particles, bacteria and equipment wear to help prevent costly machinery failures and downtime.

Read More:Open Vision Engineering Raises $11M in Funding Round