Commonwealth Bank has today launched X15 Ventures, an Australian technology venture building entity, designed to deliver new digital solutions to benefit Australian consumers and businesses.
X15 will leverage CBA’s franchise strength, security standards and balance sheet to build stand-alone digital businesses which benefit from and create value for CBA’s core business. CBA customers will benefit from a broader range of solutions which complement the bank’s core product proposition.
The bank will partner with Microsoft and KPMG High Growth Ventures to deliver X15 Ventures. Microsoft will bring its platform and engineering capability to the initiative, while KPMG will provide advisory services.
CBA Chief Executive Officer Matt Comyn said: “We remain focused on bringing together brilliant service with the best technology to deliver exceptional customer outcomes in the core of our business. X15 will enable us to innovate more quickly, and continue to offer the best digital experience for our customers.”
X15 will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of CBA, with funding provided from CBA’s $1 billion annual technology investment envelope, its own delivery model, and a dedicated management team. X15 will be headed by Toby Norton-Smith who has been appointed Managing Director of X15 Ventures.
Mr Norton-Smith said: “X15 allows us to open the door and partner more easily with entrepreneurs than ever before. Under its umbrella, we will create an environment for new businesses to flourish, we’ll empower Australia’s innovators and bring new solutions to market designed to empower customers as never before.
“X15 businesses will be nurtured and developed as start-ups but will have the scale and reach of CBA behind them to achieve rapid growth. We are pleased today to be unveiling our first two new ventures, Home-In, a digital home buying concierge, and Vonto, a business insights aggregation tool. We intend to launch at least 25 ventures over the next five years.”
Microsoft Australia Managing Director Steven Worrall said: “Commonwealth Bank has always excelled in terms of its technology vision and we have partnered with the bank for more than 20 years. Today’s announcement takes that innovation and transformation effort to the next level with the launch of X15 Ventures. I believe that the next wave of major technology breakthroughs will come from partnerships such as this, bringing together our deep technical capabilities and absolute clarity about the business challenges that need to be addressed.”
Amanda Price Head of High Growth Ventures KPMG said: “A performance mindset can be the difference between success and failure for start-ups. We look forward to working with CBA and X15 Ventures to build the ecosystem of support these new ventures need. From founder programs designed to unlock sustained high performance, to business and strategy solutions for high-growth ventures, there will be a wealth of smart tools at their disposal to help them overcome the challenge of scaling at speed.”
