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

In a strategic funding round, KAIO has raised $8 million with the support of Tether and other prominent crypto and institutional investors, bringing its total funding to $19 million. The investment round saw the participation of new investors such as Systemic Ventures, as well as returning investors like Further Ventures, Laser Digital, and Brevan Howard Digital. KAIO is focused on creating infrastructure that enables asset managers to distribute their funds on blockchain rails, having already tokenized products from notable firms including BlackRock, Brevan Howard, and Hamilton Lane. The company plans to utilize the investment to expand its offerings to include credit, structured investments, and exchange-traded funds, with a forthcoming on-chain fund launch in collaboration with Mubadala Capital, an Emirati private equity firm managing $385 billion in assets. By tokenizing institutional funds, KAIO aims to reduce barriers to entry for investors, with minimum investment requirements starting at $100 for eligible users, significantly lower than traditional thresholds. The involvement of Tether, the issuer of the popular stablecoin USDT, is expected to facilitate the flow of stablecoin capital into regulated investment products. According to Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino, "KAIO's innovative approach opens up new avenues for capital formation and investment, making institutional-grade assets more accessible on-chain and expanding global financial market participation." KAIO's platform is designed with compliance in mind, supporting regulated distribution frameworks in 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.