KAIO Secures $8M Funding from Tether to Tokenize Emirati Funds on Blockchain

KAIO, a regulated tokenization company in Abu Dhabi, announced on Monday that it has raised $8 million in a strategic funding round led by Tether and other prominent crypto and institutional investors. This investment 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 is developing infrastructure to enable asset managers to distribute funds on blockchain, having already created tokens for products from firms like BlackRock, Brevan Howard, and Hamilton Lane. The company plans to use the investment to expand its offerings to include credit, structured investments, and exchange-traded funds, and will launch an on-chain fund with Mubadala Capital, which manages $385 billion in assets. By tokenizing institutional funds, KAIO aims to lower the barriers to entry for investors, with minimum investments starting at $100 for eligible users. Tether's involvement in the funding round highlights the potential for stablecoin flows to be channeled into regulated investment products. According to Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino, KAIO's platform 'unlocks new pathways for capital formation and investment by bringing institutional-grade assets on-chain and making them more broadly accessible.' KAIO's platform incorporates compliance and supports 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.