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

KAIO, a tokenization firm based in Abu Dhabi, has announced the successful completion of an $8 million strategic funding round, with key investors including Tether and various other prominent crypto and institutional entities. This investment brings the company's total funding to $19 million, with new participants such as Systemic Ventures joining existing backers like Brevan Howard Digital and Further Ventures. KAIO specializes in creating infrastructure that enables asset managers to distribute funds via blockchain technology, having already tokenized products from renowned firms like BlackRock, Brevan Howard, and Hamilton Lane. The company intends to utilize this investment to expand its offerings into areas such as credit and exchange-traded funds, with plans to launch an on-chain fund in collaboration with Mubadala Capital, an Emirati private equity firm managing $385 billion in assets. By tokenizing institutional funds, KAIO seeks to significantly lower the barriers to entry for investors, with minimum investment requirements starting at $100 for eligible users. This development is particularly notable given Tether's involvement, which connects the model to stablecoin flows and has the potential to channel substantial liquidity into regulated investment products. According to Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino, KAIO's innovative approach '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.' The company's platform is designed with compliance in mind, supporting regulated distribution frameworks across multiple jurisdictions, including Abu Dhabi, the Cayman Islands, and Singapore. To date, KAIO has tokenized approximately $100 million in assets and processed over $500 million in transactions.