KAIO, a regulated tokenization firm in Abu Dhabi, has announced that it has secured $8 million in funding from a strategic investment round led by Tether, along with other prominent crypto and institutional investors. This investment brings the company's total funding to $19 million, with new investors such as Systemic Ventures and returning investors like Further Ventures and Laser Digital.
KAIO's existing investors, including Brevan Howard Digital, also participated in the round. The firm is focused on creating infrastructure that enables asset managers to distribute their funds on the blockchain, making them more accessible to a broader range of investors. To achieve this, KAIO has developed tokens for products offered by companies like BlackRock, Brevan Howard, and Hamilton Lane, which can then be accessed through blockchain-based systems.
With this new funding, KAIO plans to expand its offerings to include credit, structured investments, and exchange-traded funds. The company is also set 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 lower the barriers to entry for investors, with minimum investment requirements starting at $100 for eligible users. This is significantly lower than the typical thresholds for institutional funds.
The involvement of Tether, the issuer of the popular stablecoin USDT, is expected to connect the model to stablecoin flows, potentially channeling 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, helping expand participation in global financial markets.' KAIO's platform is designed to embed compliance into its system and support regulated distribution frameworks, including those in Abu Dhabi, the Cayman Islands, and Singapore. The company has already tokenized around $100 million in assets and has processed over $500 million in transactions.