KAIO, a tokenization firm regulated by Abu Dhabi, announced on Monday that it has secured $8 million in a strategic funding round led by Tether and other prominent crypto and institutional investors. This investment aims to support the development of infrastructure that enables the distribution of traditional funds on blockchain networks.
The funding round brings KAIO's total investment to $19 million, with new investors such as Systemic Ventures joining, alongside returning investors like Further Ventures, Laser Digital, and earlier backers including Brevan Howard Digital. KAIO specializes in creating infrastructure that allows asset managers to distribute funds on blockchain networks. The company has tokenized products from major firms like BlackRock, Brevan Howard, and Hamilton Lane, making them accessible through blockchain-based systems. With this new investment, KAIO plans to expand its offerings to include credit, structured investments, and exchange-traded funds.
The firm is also set to launch an on-chain fund in collaboration with Mubadala Capital, a private equity firm from 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 investments starting at $100 for eligible users, significantly lower than the typical thresholds for institutional funds.
Tether's involvement in this initiative connects the model to stablecoin flows, leveraging the liquidity of USDT, the most widely used stablecoin with a supply of $185 billion, often utilized for cross-border transactions, especially 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 integrates compliance into its system and supports regulated distribution frameworks in various jurisdictions, including Abu Dhabi, the Cayman Islands, and Singapore. The company has successfully tokenized approximately $100 million in assets and processed over $500 million in transactions.