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

In a strategic funding round, KAIO, a firm specializing in tokenization and regulated in Abu Dhabi, announced on Monday that it has raised $8 million with backing from Tether and other notable crypto and institutional investors. This investment brings KAIO's total funding to $19 million, with new investors such as Systemic Ventures joining, alongside returning investors Further Ventures, Laser Digital, and earlier supporters like Brevan Howard Digital. KAIO is focused on creating infrastructure that enables asset managers to distribute their funds on the blockchain. The company has developed tokens for products from prominent firms like BlackRock, Brevan Howard, and Hamilton Lane, making these products 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 also intends 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 aims to reduce the barriers to entry for investors, with minimum investments starting as low as $100 for eligible users, significantly lower than the typical thresholds for institutional funds. The involvement of Tether, given its significant stablecoin supply of $185 billion, is expected to connect this model to stablecoin flows, often used for cross-border transactions, especially in emerging markets. KAIO seeks to direct this liquidity into regulated investment products. According to Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino, 'KAIO's unique approach opens up new avenues for capital formation and investment by bringing institutional-grade assets onto the blockchain and making them more widely accessible, thus helping to 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. The company has tokenized approximately $100 million in assets and has processed transactions exceeding $500 million.