KAIO, a tokenization firm based in Abu Dhabi, has announced the successful completion of an $8 million strategic funding round, with key investments from Tether and other prominent crypto and institutional investors. This investment brings the company's total funding to $19 million, with new participants including Systemic Ventures and returning investors such as Further Ventures and Laser Digital.
KAIO is dedicated to creating infrastructure that enables asset managers to distribute their funds via blockchain technology. The company has already successfully tokenized products from major firms like BlackRock, Brevan Howard, and Hamilton Lane, making them accessible through blockchain-based systems.
With this new funding, KAIO plans to expand its offerings to include credit, structured investments, and exchange-traded funds, with a notable on-chain fund launch in collaboration with Mubadala Capital, an Emirati private equity firm managing $385 billion in assets. KAIO's goal is to reduce the barriers to entry for investors by creating tokens of institutional funds, with minimum investments as low as $100 for eligible users, significantly lower than traditional thresholds.
The involvement of Tether, the issuer of the widely-used USDT stablecoin, is expected to facilitate the flow of stablecoin liquidity into regulated investment products. According to Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino, 'KAIO's innovative approach opens up new avenues for capital formation and investment by making institutional-grade assets more accessible on-chain, thus expanding participation in global financial markets.' KAIO's platform is designed with compliance in mind, supporting regulated distribution frameworks in key jurisdictions such as Abu Dhabi, the Cayman Islands, and Singapore. To date, the company has tokenized approximately $100 million in assets and processed over $500 million in transactions.