Here are the 4 startups CBA’s x15ventures is looking at backing

The Commonwealth Bank’s venture-scaling arm, x15ventures, has selected four payments startups as the finalists for its Xccelerate22 program.

The four – Paytron, YouPay, Cape and Persollo – were chosen from 16 fintechs chosen to take part in the  Xccelerate Community Day a fortnight ago, going on to take part in a a deep-dive session known as the Pathway to Partnership Day, which explored what a strategic partnership with a corporate institution looks like.

This Thursday the five startups will pitch to an investment committee of representatives from x15, CBA and additional Australian CVCs and VCs, followed by a networking event, where x15 will announce an investment decision.

This year x15 is not looking for an ultimate winner and may back more than one of the startups involved.

x15ventures MD Toby Norton-Smith said the Xccelerate program, now in its third year, has a strong track record of finding and supporting great startups – givvable and OwnHome in 2020, and Splashup last year.

“The calibre of applications this time round has been higher still – possibly a reflection on market context, but also the value of our proposition, helping ventures think through alternative routes to scale and lifting the lid on strategic partnerships,” he said.

 “With CBA’s ongoing commitment to the shopping ecosystem, it’s been fantastic to engage with payments innovators who could further deepen the relationship between merchants and consumers.”

Portfolio director Laura Faulconer said Xccelerate is all about kickstarting the relationships that could underpin a future strategic partnership with the bank.

“We’re now part-way through the program and it’s been a joy to hold space for the many meaningful connections and conversations – after all, partnerships are about people,” she said.

There’s plenty of buzz surrounding our final five teams and we’re looking forward to exploring how each strategic partnership could take shape when they pitch to our investment committee.”

Here are the details on the four startups involved: