KAIO, a tokenization firm regulated by Abu Dhabi, announced on Monday that it had successfully raised $8 million in a strategic funding round, with Tether and several other prominent crypto and institutional investors participating. This investment brings KAIO's total funding to $19 million, with new investors including Systemic Ventures, and repeat investors such as Further Ventures and Laser Digital joining alongside earlier backers like Brevan Howard Digital.
KAIO specializes in developing infrastructure that enables asset managers to distribute funds on the blockchain. The company has created tokens for products from renowned firms like BlackRock, Brevan Howard, and Hamilton Lane, making them accessible through blockchain-based systems. With this new investment, KAIO plans to expand its offerings to include credit, structured investments, and exchange-traded funds. The firm is also set to launch an on-chain fund in collaboration with Mubadala Capital, a private equity firm from the UAE with $385 billion in assets under management.
By tokenizing institutional funds, KAIO aims to reduce the barriers to entry for investors, with minimum investment requirements starting at $100 for eligible users, significantly lower than the typical thresholds for institutional funds. Tether's involvement in the project is expected to leverage the stablecoin's vast liquidity, with USDT boasting a $185 billion supply and often being used for cross-border transactions, especially 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, helping expand participation in global financial markets.' KAIO's platform integrates compliance into its system and supports regulated distribution frameworks, including those in Abu Dhabi, the Cayman Islands, and Singapore.
The company has tokenized approximately $100 million in assets and has processed over $500 million in transactions.