JPMorgan Chase has made $5 billion in startup investments in the first year of its U.S. security and resiliency initiative, significantly faster than the bank’s initial expectation. The company, which announced last year that it would deploy $10 billion over a decade, may expand the program beyond that initial sum, according to JPMorgan co-President Doug Petno.

Todd Combs, the former Berkshire Hathaway executive who leads JPMorgan’s group responsible for making startup investments, has “hit the ground running,” Petno said. “He’s done a great job and put us in some really interesting companies,” Petno added. Most of these investments remain undisclosed, but two known stakes are emblematic of the project’s mission to bolster companies essential in a more dangerous and chaotic geopolitical era.

JPMorgan has taken direct stakes in Hadrian and Castelion, both defense related startups. Hadrian, a company that builds automated factories for the defense, aerospace, and maritime sectors, recently raised $1.4 billion. The startup’s founder reports that a California factory run by Hadrian has 10 robots for every human employee. In August, JPMorgan also participated in a $1 billion funding round for Castelion, a company that has developed a relatively low cost hypersonic missile called Blackbeard. Castelion was founded in late 2022 by a group of former SpaceX engineers.

These investments reflect a broader effort by JPMorgan to support companies that strengthen critical supply chains. The bank’s scope extends beyond defense and manufacturing to include frontier technologies, pharmaceuticals, and health tech industries. “There’s a lot of really interesting companies that have been working to solve some of these problems,” Petno said.

The initiatives are part of JPMorgan’s larger security and resiliency project, which aims to support industries that bolster American national interests. This project, led by Jay Horine, a former co-head of investment banking, is expected to reach $1.5 trillion over 10 years. JPMorgan has built a team of about 30 bankers, who are assisted by hundreds more across the firm, to expand the initiative to Europe and Canada.

The bank is also mapping out distribution lines for key products, from submarines and missiles to aircraft, to identify potential suppliers that may lack the capital or capacity to meet rising demand. JPMorgan is in regular communication with the U.S. Department of Defense and Department of Commerce to align with government needs.

Before this initiative, JPMorgan had largely moved away from taking startup stakes, which can be relatively risky bets on unproven technologies. The bank spun off its private equity business, One Equity Partners, more than a decade ago. However, its traditional role as a lender and advisor continues to support industries that support American national interests, with JPMorgan financing and facilitating more than $230 billion over the same period.

In summary, JPMorgan’s $5 billion in investments in the first year of its U.S. security and resiliency initiative underscores the bank’s commitment to backing companies that address critical supply chain challenges and emerging technologies.

Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/19/jpmorgan-security-defense-investments.html