KAIO Secures $8 Million in Funding from Tether to Bring Emirati Investments onto the Blockchain

In a strategic funding round, KAIO, a tokenization firm regulated by Abu Dhabi, announced that it has raised $8 million with the support of 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, and Further Ventures and Laser Digital participating again alongside earlier backers like Brevan Howard Digital. KAIO specializes in developing infrastructure that allows 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, and is set to launch an on-chain fund with Mubadala Capital, an Emirati private equity firm managing $385 billion in assets. 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 this funding round connects the model to stablecoin flows, with USDT being the most widely used stablecoin, boasting a $185 billion supply, often utilized for cross-border transactions, especially in emerging markets. 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 integrates compliance and supports regulated distribution frameworks in several 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.