Here are the 4 startups in CBA's Xccelerate program pitching for $150,000

An app to maximise your tax refund and a startup that wants to turn renters into homeowners are among four startups pitching for a $150,000 investment today as part of the x15ventures Xccelerate program.

x15ventures is the Commonwealth Bank’s venture building entity and this is the second Xccelerate program following on from two sisters Frances Atkins and Naomi Vowel, who co-founded givvable, winning the inaugural program in July.

The four startups pitching today are:

OwnHome: a start-up with a mission to turn renters into homeowners. Ownhome buys a property for the customer and the customer is able to move into the home straight away, making a simple monthly payment to OwnHome. Within the first two to five years, the customer is able to buy the property from OwnHome at a pre-arranged price.

QPay: aims to bring all the services of a university society into one place, through a prepaid Mastercard that provides immediate cashback on student discounts. QPay aims to passively introduce good financial habits to students with every purchase they make – introducing its customers to a range of features such as savings targets, buckets and crowd-sourced information.

TaxFox: a mobile app that helps Australians maximise their tax refund. With four different price-points, customers can save tax-deductable expense receipts, log their work-from-home days, and get regular Smart Tax Tips.

SparkBikes: a micro-mobility company that provides innovative software and hardware to power the gig economy. Delivery drivers working for companies such as UberEats or Deliveroo can rent an electric bike and other equipment for a minimum of four weeks through Spark Bikes.

x15ventures head of consumer portfolio, Simon Gireau, said more than 80 startups applied to the second program, before it was narrowed down to a shortlist of 10 companies.

“When choosing the startups, we look at the uniqueness and defensibility of the customer value proposition, the teams’ domain expertise, early traction, commercial opportunities, and of course the fit with x15 and CBA,” Gireau said.

Like many a demo day in 2020, the pitches were held virtually, with the winner announced later today.