UPROOTY Raises Seed Funding to Scale Distributed Micro-Hydropower and Carbon Credit Platform

UPROOTY, a South Korean climate tech startup developing renewable energy-based carbon reduction solutions, has secured seed investment from NUAC (NU Accelerator). 

UPROOTY’s core technology centers on distributed micro-hydropower generation that can produce electricity even in low-head, low-velocity water environments — conditions that make conventional hydropower unviable. Rather than relying on large-scale dam construction or civil engineering works, the company taps underutilized water resources such as rivers, agricultural canals, and discharges water to generate clean electricity. This approach enables the company to address both the power access gap and carbon reduction demand in developing countries and energy-vulnerable regions simultaneously.

The company is building a circular energy model in which the electricity generated is supplied to AI and blockchain data centers, while waste heat from those data centers is routed back for smart farm heating. UPROOTY has also designed an integrated revenue structure that pairs a measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) framework for quantifying carbon reductions with a carbon credit business, creating an additional monetization layer on top of power generation.

UPROOTY has already validated its technology in the field, completing a 60kW pilot project in the Kyrgyz Republic and conducting a greenhouse gas international reduction feasibility study through KOTRA. The company is currently executing a 500kW demonstration project integrated with smart farming operations, with plans to scale to a 10MW commercial deployment. Alongside expanding its micro-hydropower module supply, UPROOTY intends to use the seed funding to build a SaaS platform supporting carbon credit calculation, registration, and trading — broadening its offering into the global climate tech market.

“UPROOTY has the potential to grow into an integrated energy platform that connects renewable energy production, data center power supply, waste-heat-powered smart farming, and carbon credit business,” said a NUAC spokesperson. “We see strong scalability potential in developing country markets where power infrastructure remains inadequate.”

“We are building an integrated platform that links power generation from underutilized water resources all the way through to carbon credit monetization,” said a company representative. “Our goal is to become a company that solves electricity access challenges in energy-underserved regions while contributing to global carbon neutrality.”