KAIO, a tokenization firm regulated by Abu Dhabi, announced on Monday that it has secured $8 million in a strategic funding round backed by Tether and several other prominent crypto and institutional investors. This investment is part of KAIO's efforts to develop infrastructure that enables the distribution of traditional funds on blockchain rails.
The funding round brings KAIO's total funding to $19 million, with new investors including Systemic Ventures, and repeat investors such as Further Ventures, Laser Digital, and Brevan Howard Digital. KAIO's primary objective is to create tokens of products from renowned firms like BlackRock, Brevan Howard, and Hamilton Lane, making them accessible through blockchain-based systems. The firm plans to utilize this investment to expand its offerings to include credit, structured investments, and exchange-traded funds, as well as launch an on-chain fund in collaboration with Mubadala Capital, an Emirati private equity firm with $385 billion in assets under management. By tokenizing institutional funds, KAIO aims to lower 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 funding round highlights the potential for stablecoin flows to be integrated into KAIO's model. As the most widely used stablecoin with a supply of $185 billion, USDT 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 is designed to embed compliance into its system and support regulated distribution frameworks, including those in 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.