The bank, which last year said it would deploy $10 billion<\/a> into startups over a decade, may expand the program beyond that initial dollar amount, JPMorgan co-President Doug Petno told CNBC in an interview. <\/p>\n Todd Combs, the former Berkshire Hathaway<\/a> executive who leads the JPMorgan group<\/a> in charge of making startup investments<\/a>, has “hit the ground running,” Petno said. “He’s done a great job and put us in some really interesting companies,” he added. <\/p>\n Most of those investments have yet to be disclosed, but two known stakes seem emblematic of the project’s mission to bolster companies that are needed for a more dangerous<\/a> and chaotic era of geopolitics. JPMorgan, the biggest U.S. bank by assets, has taken direct stakes in defense-related startups Hadrian<\/a> and Castelion<\/a>. <\/p>\n Wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, as well as trade disputes with China, have threatened the flow of energy and key components needed for U.S. industries and defense, which spurred JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon<\/a> into creating the initiative a year ago.<\/p>\n He put Petno, widely seen as one of two key possible successors<\/a>, in charge of the overall investment project. Combs, a former board member<\/a> of the bank, reports directly to Dimon.<\/p>\n The scope of the project extends beyond supply chain, defense and manufacturing to include frontier technologies and the pharmaceutical and health-tech industries. <\/p>\n Troy Rohrbaugh and Douglas Petno, co-CEOs of Commercial & Investment Bank at JPMorganChase.<\/p>\n Courtesy: JPMorganChase<\/p>\n “There’s a lot of really interesting companies that have been working to solve some of these problems,” Petno said. <\/p>\n These “early venture-stage, advanced manufacturing companies have found ways to build these capabilities in the U.S.” rather than relying on overseas trading partners, he said. <\/p>\n In August, the bank helped lead a $1.4 billion funding round<\/a> for Hadrian, which builds automated factories that make parts for the defense, aerospace and maritime sectors. A California factory run by Hadrian has 10 robots for every human employee, according<\/a> to the startup’s founder.<\/p>\n That month, JPMorgan was also involved in a $1 billion funding round<\/a> for Castelion, whose flagship product is a relatively low-cost hypersonic missile called Blackbeard. Castelion was founded in late 2022 by a group of former SpaceX engineers.<\/p>\n “Our approach is to find generational companies and partner with them for the long term,” Combs said in a statement Monday. <\/p>\n “Putting more than $5 billion to work in our first year shows how many exceptional businesses are building in industries that strengthen critical supply chains,” Combs said.<\/p>\n Risky business? <\/p>\n JPMorgan making billions of dollars of direct investments in nascent companies is a departure from its usual role as a lender and advisor.<\/p>\n Before the defense initiative, the bank had moved away from taking startup stakes, which can be relatively risky bets on unproven technologies. JPMorgan spun off<\/a> its private equity business, One Equity Partners, more than a decade ago.<\/p>\n In its more traditional role, JPMorgan has also financed and facilitated more than $230 billion for industries that support American national interests, according to the bank.<\/p>\n That part of its security and resiliency project, meant to hit $1.5 trillion over 10 years, is led by Jay Horine<\/a>, a former co-head of investment banking. <\/p>\n
![\"Hadrian](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/108345869-5ED1-MC-080626-Chris.jpg\")
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