{"slug": "a-high-school-dropout-raised-31-million-to-protect-ai-liquid-cooling-systems-his", "title": "A high school dropout raised $31 million to protect AI liquid cooling systems. Read his pitch deck.", "summary": "Omen AI, a startup founded by 20-year-old high school dropout Zach Laberge, raised $31 million in June to protect AI liquid cooling systems in data centers. The company's sensors continuously analyze coolant in real time to detect contamination, preventing costly shutdowns of AI chip clusters. Nava Ventures led the round, with participation from CRV, Sheryl Sandberg, Mann+Hummel, and TensorWave executives, bringing Omen's total funding to $41.5 million.", "body_md": "[Become an Insider](/subscription)and start reading now. Have an account? .\n\nAs AI chips become more powerful — and hotter — data centers are turning to liquid rather than air to cool servers.\n\nFor the [newest AI systems](https://www.businessinsider.com/nvidia-microsoft-ai-gpu-blackwell-cooling-wasteful-2025-12), fans alone can't remove enough heat. That shift has created a new problem: keeping coolant from degrading or becoming contaminated. Omen AI announced a $31 million funding round in June to address this issue.\n\nData centers typically mail coolant samples to labs to check the health of their systems, then wait days for results. Omen's sensors continuously analyze coolant in real time to detect contamination, metal particles, bacteria, and other signs of degradation.\n\nOmen's 20-year-old founder and CEO Zach Laberge likened it to a \"blood test.\" The startup aims to catch problems early so operators don't have to shut down AI chip clusters and flush bad coolant — a process that can cost millions in lost computing time, he said.\n\nLaberge founded the company in 2024, initially to build sensors for [excavators in the construction industry](https://www.businessinsider.com/man-makes-excavator-do-dainty-tricks-2016-5). After about a year, he realized its fluid-monitoring technology was \"100 times more valuable for data centers.\"\n\nNava Ventures led the funding round, with participation from CRV, former Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg, Mann+Hummel, and executives from [AI cloud startup TensorWave](https://www.businessinsider.com/pitch-deck-tensorwave-safe-funding-nvidia-amd-ai-compute-2024-10), a customer. Omen has raised $41.5 million to date.\n\nThe company sells permanent sensors and portable devices through subscriptions priced per megawatt. It has more than a dozen customers, Laberge said, most of which are [neoclouds, or specialized AI cloud](https://www.businessinsider.com/nvidia-backs-loans-for-neoclouds-gmi-cloud-expands-ai-infrastructure-2026-7) providers. It is also starting to work with larger cloud companies.\n\nIn addition to monitoring coolant in data centers, Omen's devices also analyze fluids in industrial machines.\n\nLaberge said he's been creating companies since he was a kid growing up in Nova Scotia — from selling smartwatches to running a dog-cookie business and a tool-rental platform.\n\nOmen has 30 employees in San Francisco, most of whom are college dropouts, Laberge said. He added that he hires for skill over formal credentials and that Omen will use the funding to grow its engineering team and scale manufacturing.\n\n*Here's a look at the pitch deck Omen AI used to raise its $31 million Series A round. The deck has been redacted so that it can be shared publicly.*", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/a-high-school-dropout-raised-31-million-to-protect-ai-liquid-cooling-systems-his", "canonical_source": "https://www.businessinsider.com/omen-ai-raises-31-m-data-center-cooling-pitch-deck-2026-7", "published_at": "2026-07-22 09:00:02+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-07-22 09:23:47.847972+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-infrastructure", "ai-startups", "ai-products"], "entities": ["Omen AI", "Zach Laberge", "Nava Ventures", "CRV", "Sheryl Sandberg", "Mann+Hummel", "TensorWave"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/a-high-school-dropout-raised-31-million-to-protect-ai-liquid-cooling-systems-his", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/a-high-school-dropout-raised-31-million-to-protect-ai-liquid-cooling-systems-his.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/a-high-school-dropout-raised-31-million-to-protect-ai-liquid-cooling-systems-his.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/a-high-school-dropout-raised-31-million-to-protect-ai-liquid-cooling-systems-his.jsonld"}}