KAIO Secures $8 Million in Funding from Tether to Tokenize Emirati Investments

KAIO, a regulated tokenization firm in Abu Dhabi, announced on Monday that it has secured $8 million in a strategic funding round, led by Tether and accompanied by several other prominent crypto and institutional investors. This investment brings KAIO's total funding to $19 million, with new investors such as Systemic Ventures and returning investors including Further Ventures and Laser Digital, as well as earlier backers like Brevan Howard Digital. KAIO is focused on creating infrastructure that enables asset managers to distribute funds on blockchain rails. The firm has successfully tokenized products from renowned companies such as BlackRock, Brevan Howard, and Hamilton Lane, making them accessible through blockchain-based systems. With this new investment, KAIO plans to expand its product offerings to include credit, structured investments, and exchange-traded funds. The company also intends to launch an on-chain fund in collaboration with Mubadala Capital, a private equity firm based in the UAE with $385 billion in assets under management. By tokenizing institutional funds, KAIO aims to reduce the barriers to entry for investors, with minimum investment requirements starting at $100 for eligible users, significantly lower than the typical thresholds for institutional funds. Tether's involvement in this funding round highlights the potential for stablecoin flows to be integrated into this model. As the most widely used stablecoin, USDT boasts a supply of $185 billion and is often utilized for cross-border transactions, particularly in emerging markets. KAIO seeks to channel this liquidity into regulated investment products. According to Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino, 'KAIO's unique position unlocks new pathways for capital formation and investment by bringing institutional-grade assets on-chain and making them more broadly accessible, which helps expand participation in global financial markets.' KAIO's platform incorporates compliance into its system and supports regulated distribution frameworks in various jurisdictions, including Abu Dhabi, the Cayman Islands, and Singapore. The company has tokenized approximately $100 million in assets and has processed over $500 million in transactions to date.