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

KAIO, a regulated tokenization platform in Abu Dhabi, has secured $8 million in funding from a strategic round backed by Tether and other prominent crypto and institutional investors. This investment brings KAIO's total funding to $19 million, with new investors such as Systemic Ventures joining the round, alongside repeat investors Further Ventures, Laser Digital, and earlier backers including Brevan Howard 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 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 partnership with Mubadala Capital, an Emirati private equity firm with $385 billion in assets under management. By tokenizing institutional funds, KAIO aims to reduce the barriers to entry for investors, with minimum investments starting at $100 for eligible users, significantly lower than the typical thresholds for institutional funds. Tether's involvement in the funding round highlights the potential for stablecoin flows to be channeled into regulated investment products. As the most widely used stablecoin with a $185 billion supply, USDT is often utilized for cross-border transactions, particularly in emerging markets. KAIO seeks to leverage this liquidity to facilitate access to regulated investment products. According to Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino, 'KAIO's innovative approach unlocks new pathways for capital formation and investment by bringing institutional-grade assets on-chain and making them more broadly accessible, thereby expanding participation in global financial markets.' KAIO's platform incorporates compliance into its system 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.