JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Two-Year Grant Funds Experiential Learning at Atlanta Universities and Planning for the City's First Build‑and‑Test Space for Clean Tech Startups 

ATLANTA, April 1, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Georgia Cleantech Innovation Hub announced a new initiative with support from JPMorganChase, including a $600,000 philanthropic commitment to the Georgia Cleantech Innovation Hub (GACIH) to build the workforce and infrastructure needed to grow and scale clean technologies and businesses that save energy and water, cut waste, improve efficiency and reduce pollution—creating new opportunities for innovation, skilled jobs, and long‑term cost savings across the economy

Atlanta's universities continue to produce graduates ready to enter the modern workforce, but have not found pathways to careers in clean tech innovation. Clean tech startups also struggle to find the space to prototype and test designs to grow and scale. This initiative targets these persistent gaps by encouraging early awareness of clean tech career pathways and entrepreneurship opportunities, and access to right-sized industrial space for prototyping and testing hardware startups –ecosystem.

The grant will fund two initiatives:

• Real-world learning programs at local universities to develop the next generation of cleantech professionals and businesses.
• Site identification and feasibility planning for Atlanta's first cleantech startup hardware and testing incubation facility.

Through a partnership with the Georgia Institute of Technology's Partnership for Innovation Network, the grant will enable Morehouse College, Georgia State University, and Spelman College to launch experiential learning programs that connect students with leading clean tech entrepreneurs and highlight the breadth of career pathways in the clean tech industry.

"We have watched the search for capable innovation space become a real source of friction for Atlanta's hard tech startups, slowing companies down and hindering new career opportunities at exactly the wrong time," said Andy Marshall, Executive Director of Georgia Cleantech Innovation Hub. "Recent additions in South Downtown and Science Square are beginning to address that gap, and this initiative continues the momentum. A flex-industrial incubator purpose-built for clean tech fills a market need that we have seen firsthand, and it reinforces Atlanta's commitment to being a city where innovation-driven companies can start, grow and stay."

Additionally, the initiative supports the innovation startup pipeline by funding site identification and feasibility studies for a new clean tech incubator facility in the City of Atlanta, targeting an underutilized industrial property that can be repurposed for early-stage clean tech companies.

The concept addresses a specific market gap. In Atlanta, flex industrial spaces under 5,000 square feet are nearly absent, creating a bottleneck for hard tech startups that have outgrown makerspaces but are not yet ready for long-term leases. This leaves these innovators with limited options when they are validating their products and growing their teams.

"A strong innovation economy needs talented entrepreneurs who can design, test, and produce innovations to solve critical problems, and skilled talent who can create and fill jobs in high-growth industries," said Suganthi Simon, Vice President, Global Philanthropy for JPMorganChase. "We're proud to support GACIH because the talent pipeline and the startup innovation pipeline are tightly linked and have the power to boost our communities build wealth and grow our economy."

"As Atlanta's economy grows, we must make room for and invest in new, forward-thinking industries," said Keith Fleming, head of J.P. Morgan's Private Bank for the South Atlantic and co-chair of the Georgia Market Leadership Team. "JPMorganChase's support for the Georgia Cleantech Innovation Hub is intended to accelerate clean tech business growth and careers in our state. We believe that GACIH will help diversify our economy and strengthen Atlanta's economic future."

This commitment deepens JPMorganChase's growing investment in Georgia's clean tech economy. In December 2024, JPMorganChase supported the Georgia Chamber Foundation through a $350,000 commitment to help address clean tech workforce development needs statewide. The GACIH support expands on and localizes that strategy in Atlanta.

About JPMorganChase

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is a leading financial services firm based in the United States of America ("U.S."), with operations worldwide. JPMorganChase had $4.4 trillion in assets and $362 billion in stockholders' equity as of December 31, 2025. The Firm is a leader in investment banking, financial services for consumers and small businesses, commercial banking, financial transaction processing and asset management. Under the J.P. Morgan and Chase brands, the Firm serves millions of customers in the U.S., and many of the world's most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients globally. Information about JPMorgan Chase & Co. is available at www.jpmorganchase.com.

About Georgia Cleantech Innovation Hub

The Georgia Cleantech Innovation Hub is a 501c3 that aims to make innovation a driver of a robust clean tech economy that elevates people and communities throughout Georgia and the Southeast. By unleashing innovation, shaping markets, and cultivating career pathways, the hub connects innovators to the talent, capital, and resources necessary to create organizations that are built to last. The result is a self-reinforcing clean tech innovation economy that attracts and retains startups, accelerates technology transfer between academia and industry, creates high-quality jobs filled by Georgia's diverse workforce, and ultimately improves the environment, quality of life, and community resilience.  For more information on how to get involved, visit https://gacth.org/.

About Partnership for Innovation (PIN)

Partnership for Innovation (PIN) is a public–private catalyst advancing innovation-led economic growth and shared prosperity across Georgia and the Southeast. Since 2020, PIN has delivered 220+ projects in 300+ communities with 200+ partners, deploying nearly 200 technologies and generating more than a 5x return for every dollar invested. Through paid Emerging Innovators fellowships and internships and community-anchored, university-driven solutions, PIN connects talent, research, and capital to scale socio-economic impact. Learn more and get involved at www.pingeorgia.org.

Media Contact

Kelly Ronna

Trevelino/Keller

kronna@trevelinokeller.com

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SOURCE Georgia Cleantech Innovation Hub

Rand Araskog joins as Partner from Permira

Eric Ghernati transitions to Partner role from J.P. Morgan Asset Management U.S. Equity Group

NEW YORK, March 31, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- J.P. Morgan Private Capital, the venture and growth equity investment arm within J.P. Morgan Asset Management, today announced the appointments of Rand Araskog and Eric Ghernati as Partners focused on investing in leading growth companies.

The team's expansion comes in response to a fundamental shift in capital markets. Companies are staying private for longer, with the median age at IPO of U.S. tech companies nearly tripling from five years in 1999 to fourteen years in 2024¹. Over the same period, global private market assets have expanded 20-fold to $20 trillion². This evolution has blurred the traditional boundary between public and private markets. There are now over 800 private technology companies valued above $1 billion, together representing nearly $4 trillion of aggregate value³. J.P. Morgan Private Capital seeks to capitalize on these secular growth trends across the platform.

Paris Heymann, Managing Partner, Technology Investing, J.P. Morgan Private Capital: "We're thrilled to have Rand and Eric join the Private Capital team. Their deep investment expertise across public and private markets will help us continue to support high-growth companies at scale."

Mr. Araskog has extensive experience investing in technology companies across public equities, growth equity, and buyout private equity. Most recently, he was a Managing Director at Permira, where he helped build out a dedicated strategy, systems, and team for the Firm's $4B growth fund and led successful public long-only investments. Prior to Permira, he was a Long/Short and Growth Equity Analyst at Coatue, responsible for investments across enterprise software, hardware, and frontier technologies.

Mr. Ghernati has been with J.P. Morgan Asset Management since 2020, most recently in the U.S. Equity Group where he was responsible for tech strategies across all market caps, including J.P. Morgan Mid Cap Growth and Small Cap Growth. He was also a co-portfolio manager for the J.P. Morgan U.S. Tech Leaders Strategy, including its active ETF vehicle, JTEK, and the US Equity Focus fund. Mr. Ghernati has also overseen the group's selective pre-IPO and private investments. Prior to J.P. Morgan, Mr. Ghernati spent six years at Lord Abbett, where he covered the technology sector for the growth, value, and core strategies.

Patrick McGoldrick, Managing Partner, J.P. Morgan Private Capital: "We see substantial opportunity to continue scaling the Private Capital platform. Rand and Eric will enable us to develop unique strategies across the growth investing continuum as we strive to partner with the world's most innovative companies."

Jed Laskowitz, Global Head of Private Markets and Customized Solutions: "With companies staying private longer, we are seeing an explosion of client interest in the convergence of public and private equity. Rand and Eric's extensive experience across growth markets will be instrumental in delivering differentiated solutions to our clients."

Biographies

Rand Araskog is a Partner for J.P. Morgan Private Capital. He has extensive experience investing in technology companies across public equities, growth equity, and buyout private equity. Most recently, he was a Managing Director at Permira, where he helped build out a dedicated strategy, systems, and team for the Firm's $4B growth fund and led successful public long-only investments. Prior to Permira, he was a Long/Short and Growth Equity Analyst at Coatue, responsible for investments across enterprise software, hardware, and frontier technologies. He began his career in investment banking at Goldman Sachs. Rand holds a B.A. from Duke University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Eric Ghernati is a Partner for J.P. Morgan Private Capital. Mr. Ghernati has been with J.P. Morgan Asset Management since 2020, most recently in the U.S. Equity Group where he was responsible for tech strategies across all market caps, including J.P. Morgan Mid Cap Growth and Small Cap Growth. He was also a co-portfolio manager for the J.P. Morgan U.S. Tech Leaders Strategy, including its active ETF vehicle, JTEK, and the US Equity Focus fund. Mr. Ghernati has also overseen the group's selective pre-IPO and private investments. Prior to J.P. Morgan, Mr. Ghernati spent six years at Lord Abbett, where he covered the technology sector for the growth, value, and core strategies. Earlier in his career, Eric worked for 15 years at Bank of America Merrill Lynch as a research analyst covering a variety of industries within the technology sector. Eric holds a B.S. in Finance from San Francisco State University.

About J.P. Morgan Asset Management

J.P. Morgan Asset Management, with assets under management of $4.2 trillion (as of 12/31/2025), is a global leader in investment management. J.P. Morgan Asset Management's clients include institutions, retail investors and high net worth individuals in every major market throughout the world. J.P. Morgan Asset Management offers global investment management in equities, fixed income, real estate, hedge funds, private equity and liquidity. For more information, visit: www.jpmorgan.com/am

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is a leading financial services firm based in the United States of America ("U.S."), with operations worldwide. JPMorganChase had $4.4 trillion in assets and $362 billion in stockholders' equity (as of 12/31/2025). The Firm is a leader in investment banking, financial services for consumers and small businesses, commercial banking, financial transaction processing and asset management. Under the J.P. Morgan and Chase brands, the Firm serves millions of customers in the U.S., and many of the world's most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients globally. Information about JPMorgan Chase & Co. is available at www.jpmorganchase.com.

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SOURCE J.P. Morgan Asset Management