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

In a strategic funding round, KAIO, a tokenization firm based in Abu Dhabi, has secured $8 million in investments from Tether and other prominent crypto and institutional investors. This funding brings the company's total investment to $19 million, with new investors such as Systemic Ventures joining the round, alongside returning investors like Further Ventures and Laser Digital. KAIO is focused on developing infrastructure that enables asset managers to distribute their funds on the blockchain. The company has created tokens for products from major firms like BlackRock, Brevan Howard, and Hamilton Lane, making these investment opportunities accessible through blockchain-based systems. With this new investment, KAIO plans to expand its offerings to include credit, structured investments, and exchange-traded funds, with the goal of launching an on-chain fund in partnership with Mubadala Capital, an Emirati private equity firm managing $385 billion in assets. By tokenizing institutional funds, KAIO aims to reduce the barriers to entry for investors, with minimum investments as low as $100 for eligible users, significantly lower than the typical thresholds for institutional investments. The involvement of Tether, the issuer of the popular stablecoin USDT, is expected to leverage the stablecoin's liquidity to channel investments into regulated products. According to Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino, KAIO's 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.' KAIO's platform is designed with compliance in mind, supporting regulated distribution frameworks in several jurisdictions, including 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.