KAIO, a regulatory-compliant tokenization firm headquartered in Abu Dhabi, has announced the successful completion of an $8 million strategic funding round led by Tether and supported by several prominent crypto and institutional investors. This latest investment brings KAIO's total funding to $19 million, with new investors such as Systemic Ventures joining existing backers, including Further Ventures, Laser Digital, and Brevan Howard Digital. KAIO develops and implements infrastructure that enables asset managers to distribute their funds on blockchain rails, having already created tokens for products from notable firms like BlackRock, Brevan Howard, and Hamilton Lane, making them accessible through blockchain-based systems.
The company plans to utilize this investment to expand its offerings into new areas, including credit, structured investments, and exchange-traded funds, with the goal of launching 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 significantly lower the barriers to entry for investors, with minimum investment requirements starting at $100 for eligible users, substantially below the typical thresholds for institutional funds.
The involvement of Tether, a leading stablecoin issuer, is expected to facilitate the integration of stablecoin flows into KAIO's model, with the potential to channel 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 key jurisdictions such as 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.