KAIO, a tokenization firm regulated by Abu Dhabi, has secured $8 million in a strategic funding round led by Tether and other prominent crypto and institutional investors. This investment brings KAIO's total funding to $19 million, with new investors including Systemic Ventures and returning 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 firm has developed tokens for products from companies 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, including the launch of an on-chain fund with Mubadala Capital, an Emirati private equity firm managing $385 billion in assets. 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 funding round is expected to leverage the stablecoin's vast liquidity, with USDT boasting a $185 billion supply, often used for cross-border transactions, especially in emerging markets.
KAIO intends 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, which helps expand participation in global financial markets." KAIO's platform is designed with compliance in mind, supporting regulated distribution frameworks in 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.