KAIO, a tokenization company regulated by Abu Dhabi, has successfully raised $8 million in a strategic funding round led by Tether and other prominent crypto and institutional investors. This investment aims to support the development of infrastructure that enables the distribution of traditional funds on blockchain rails. The funding round brings KAIO's total investment to $19 million, with new investors such as Systemic Ventures joining, and existing investors like Further Ventures and Laser Digital also participating.
KAIO's primary objective is to create tokens representing products from firms such as BlackRock, Brevan Howard, and Hamilton Lane, making them accessible through blockchain-based systems. The company plans to utilize the investment to expand its offerings to include credit, structured investments, and exchange-traded funds. Furthermore, KAIO intends to launch an on-chain fund in collaboration with Mubadala Capital, a private equity firm based in the UAE with $385 billion in assets under management.
By tokenizing institutional funds, KAIO seeks to lower the barriers to entry for investors, with minimum investment requirements starting at $100 for eligible users. This is significantly lower than the typical thresholds for institutional funds. Tether's involvement in the funding round is expected to integrate the model with stablecoin flows, leveraging the liquidity of USDT, the most widely used stablecoin with a supply of $185 billion.
KAIO aims to channel this liquidity into regulated investment products. According to Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, '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 incorporates compliance into its system and supports regulated distribution frameworks in various 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.