KAIO, a tokenization firm regulated by Abu Dhabi, announced on Monday that it has secured $8 million in a strategic funding round led by Tether and other prominent crypto and institutional investors. This investment aims to support KAIO's efforts in building infrastructure to transition traditional funds to blockchain-based systems. The funding round brings KAIO's total investment to $19 million, with new investors such as Systemic Ventures joining alongside returning investors like Further Ventures, Laser Digital, and Brevan Howard Digital. KAIO specializes in creating infrastructure that enables asset managers to distribute funds on the blockchain.
The firm has successfully tokenized products from renowned companies like BlackRock, Brevan Howard, and Hamilton Lane, making them accessible through blockchain-based platforms. With this new investment, KAIO plans to expand its offerings to include credit, structured investments, and exchange-traded funds. The company also intends to launch an on-chain fund in collaboration with Mubadala Capital, an Emirati private equity firm with $385 billion in assets under management.
By tokenizing institutional funds, KAIO aims to lower 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 this project is expected to leverage the stablecoin's liquidity, with USDT being the most widely used stablecoin, boasting a $185 billion supply.
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 incorporates compliance into its system and supports regulated distribution frameworks in various jurisdictions, including Abu Dhabi, the Cayman Islands, and Singapore. The company has tokenized approximately $100 million in assets and processed over $500 million in transactions to date.