JPMorgan ESG head calls for new green tech funding model

STARTUP firms in the green technology industry are missing out on capital and need a new funding model, a senior JPMorgan banker said at an event on Monday (Nov 13).

“We need to build a funding model for green tech companies,” Chuka Umunna, JPMorgan’s head of EMEA ESG and green economy investment banking, told the Reuters Energy Transition Europe 2023 event.

Umunna said most of the capital raised in green technology was flowing to sectors including electric vehicles and low-carbon energy, while others such as sustainable food ecosystems that “in some cases make more of a contribution to global greenhouse emissions” were not seeing the same amount.

This was partly because of the capital requirements for some green tech firms in the early stages of development, he said.

Capital raising for green technology companies in general had not been immune to geopolitical ructions “spooking the market”, as well as worries about a weak economy, particularly in Europe and in public markets, Umunna said.

But deal activity was increasing in private markets, the former British lawmaker added. REUTERS