The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has launched a technology venture building entity to deliver new digital solutions to its 15 million customer base.
Known as X15 Ventures, the new incubator for startups has been created in partnership with tech giant Microsoft and KPMG.
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Through this new initiative, the bank intends to build more than 25 technology start-ups by 2024.
X15 will be a fully-owned subsidiary of CBA and will be funded by the bank’s A$1bn annual technology investment fund.
However, X15 will have its own delivery model and a dedicated management team.
Toby Norton-Smith has been named as the managing director of the technology venture building entity.
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By GlobalDataCBA CEO Matt Comyn said: “X15 will enable us to innovate more quickly, and continue to offer the best digital experience for our customers.”
Smith said: “X15 allows us to open the door and partner more easily with entrepreneurs than ever before.
“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: “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.”
KPMG High Growth Ventures head Amanda Price said: “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.”
The investment comes closes on the heels of bank increasing its holding in Swedish payments firm Klarna to 5.5% through an additional investment of $200m.
The bank previously invested $100m in the buy-now-pay-later firm and owned a 1.8% stake.
Klarna has now rolled out its services in Australia and New Zealand with CBA’s backing.
