KAIO, a tokenization firm regulated by Abu Dhabi, has secured $8 million in funding from a strategic investment round led by Tether and supported by various crypto and institutional investors. This investment brings KAIO's total funding to $19 million, with new investors including Systemic Ventures and repeat investors such as Further Ventures, Laser Digital, and Brevan Howard Digital. KAIO is focused on creating infrastructure that enables asset managers to distribute funds on the blockchain. The company has developed tokens for products from prominent 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 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 investments starting at $100 for eligible users, significantly lower than the typical thresholds for institutional funds. Tether's participation in this investment round connects the model to stablecoin flows, with the goal of channeling liquidity into regulated investment products.
According to Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino, 'KAIO's unique position opens up new pathways for capital formation and investment by bringing institutional-grade assets on-chain and making them more accessible, which helps expand participation in global financial markets.' KAIO's platform incorporates compliance 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.