Key Takeaways:
- Tether led an $8M round for KAIO on April 20, 2026, bringing the Abu Dhabi tokenization firm’s total raised to $19M.
- KAIO has processed over $500M in transactions and manages ~$100M in AUM. The firm works with Blackrock, Nomura, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Brevan Howard, Chainlink Labs, and Hamilton Lane funds.
- KAIO plans to launch an onchain fund with Mubadala Capital, Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth arm managing ~$385B in assets.
Tether Invests in UAE Tokenization Startup KAIO to Channel USDT Into Regulated Fund Products
The round closed April 20, 2026, and brings KAIO‘s total capital raised to $19 million following an approximately $11 million seed round in July 2025. Coindesk was the first to report on the news. Systemic Ventures joined as a new participant, while Further Ventures and Laser Digital returned alongside existing backers Brevan Howard Digital, Lyrik Ventures, Karatage, and Shorooq Partners.
KAIO builds application-chain infrastructure that allows institutional asset managers to issue, redeem, and transfer tokenized fund shares across multiple jurisdictions. The company operates under regulatory oversight in Abu Dhabi, the Cayman Islands, and Singapore.
The platform has tokenized funds from Hamilton Lane, Blackrock, Laser Digital, and Brevan Howard. It currently manages just under $100 million in assets under management (AUM) and has processed more than $500 million in transactions, according to rwa.xyz stats.
One of KAIO’s stated goals is lowering the entry bar for institutional-grade products. Qualified investors can access some tokenized funds with as little as $100, compared to the substantially higher minimums typical in traditional institutional fund structures.
KAIO previously operated under the name Libre Capital before rebranding in 2025. It runs tokenized products on multiple blockchain networks, including Sei Network and Hedera. The new capital, according to the report, is designated to expand KAIO’s onchain fund distribution infrastructure and broaden its product range into credit, structured products, and exchange-traded funds.
A major initiative tied to the funding is a forthcoming onchain fund with Mubadala Capital, the investment arm of Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, managing roughly $385 billion in assets. That partnership was first announced in December 2025.
Tether‘s USDT carries a market capitalization of approximately $187.24 billion, as of April 20, according to defillama.com stats. KAIO intends to channel USDT liquidity into its regulated investment products, with a focus on cross-border capital flows in emerging markets and the UAE.
The deal reflects Tether‘s continued effort to position USDT beyond payments and into regulated investment infrastructure. Stablecoin liquidity flowing into compliant tokenized products represents a practical use case that firms in the Gulf region have been building toward for several years.
KAIO’s onchain fund distribution model gives traditional asset managers a path to reach qualified investors who hold digital assets but lack access to institutional-grade fund products through conventional channels.
The tokenization of real-world assets has drawn increasing attention from sovereign wealth funds, global asset managers, and digital asset firms looking for regulated, yield-bearing products that operate on public blockchain infrastructure.
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