Sept 23 (Reuters) - Hal Lehr, a former trader at Deutsche Bank AG and Soros Fund Management LLC, is set to start a hedge fund firm after receiving support from JPMorgan Chase & Co's asset management unit, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday.

Aithon Capital is expected to be set up by January with JPMorgan investing about half of its initial capital of $100 million, the report said, citing a person familiar with the matter. (http://bloom.bg/1DwXUva)

The firm is likely to focus on commodity trading and JPMorgan may increase its investment to as high as $500 million, the report added.

Aithon is looking to set up office at 501 Madison Avenue in New York City, the person told Bloomberg.

Lehr stepped down as head of Deutsche Bank's global cross-commodity trading unit in late 2012 and has since been planning to launch Aithon.

However, his plan was postponed after Carlyle Group hired him as an adviser.

JPMorgan Chase was not immediately available for comment on the report.

(Reporting by Amrutha Gayathri in Bangalore; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)