UAE based ORO Labs, a Solana based tokenization protocol, has raised $1.5 million in a pre-seed funding round, let by 468 Capital, with participation from UAE regulated Fasset tokenization exchange platform, as well as Phantom, Jupiter, Helium, Squads, Sanctum, Anza Labs, Perena, Bonk, and Forma.

As per the announcement the $1.5 million pre seed funding will help ORO Labs expand its product offerings and deepen integrations within both decentralized and traditional financial markets. The company is also partnering with Fasset to drive adoption across the UAE, Malaysia, Bahrain, Indonesia, and Turkey, and will launch on Fasset’s Layer 2 network later this year.

ORO aims to make gold a dynamic, income-generating asset by allowing users to earn a real yield on their gold holdings, borrow against their gold to unlock liquidity, and trade gold-backed assets with instant settlement.

The UAE currently facilitates over $100 billion in gold transactions annually, and in the past two years the price of Gold has increased by more than 50 percent.

ORO is also expanding tokenized gold adoption across the UAE, Malaysia, Bahrain, Indonesia, and Turkey. Fasset will be its partner, helping drive retail and institutional access through its regulated financial infrastructure. ORO will also launch on Own (Fasset’s Layer 2 network) later this year.

Usman Saleem, Co-Founder & CEO of ORO, said, “Gold shouldn’t just sit idle—it should generate wealth. With ORO, gold isn’t just something you hold; it’s something you can earn with, borrow against, and use seamlessly across markets. This is gold, but better.”

Guilherme Steinbruch, Partner at 468 Capital, added, “We see ORO as a crucial bridge between legacy commodities markets and the next generation of financial infrastructure. By creating a gold-backed financial asset with real utility, ORO is unlocking new opportunities for both crypto users and traditional gold investors.”

Tokenization of assets has also been growing in the past year and especially in the UAE with announcements from MantraChain Blockchain and Damac, as well as Tokinvest, which implies the growing importance of tokenization in the UAE’s digital asset economy.

This announcement also comes at the backdrop of DFSA recent launch of its Tokenization sandbox.