KAIO Receives $8 Million in Funding from Tether to Tokenize UAE-Based Funds on Blockchain

In a strategic funding round, KAIO, a tokenization firm based in Abu Dhabi, has secured $8 million in investments from Tether and other prominent crypto and institutional investors. This funding round brings the total investment in KAIO to $19 million. The list of new investors includes Systemic Ventures, while existing investors such as Further Ventures, Laser Digital, and Brevan Howard Digital have also participated in this round. KAIO is focused on creating infrastructure that enables asset managers to distribute their funds on blockchain rails. The firm has successfully tokenized products from leading companies like BlackRock, Brevan Howard, and Hamilton Lane, making them accessible through blockchain-based systems. With the newly acquired funds, KAIO plans to expand its product offerings to include credit, structured investments, and exchange-traded funds. The company 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 lower 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. The involvement of Tether, a leading stablecoin issuer, is expected to facilitate the flow of stablecoin liquidity into regulated investment products. According to Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino, KAIO's innovative approach has the potential to unlock new pathways for capital formation and investment by making institutional-grade assets more accessible on-chain, thus expanding participation in global financial markets. KAIO's platform is designed to embed compliance into its system, supporting 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.