Corporate / CVC · 10 deals
Australian bank
Sydney, NSW
Every published round Commonwealth Bank took part in, and every parcel of existing shares it bought off another holder. Deals we hold but haven't published yet are not counted.
Everyone Commonwealth Bank has named to a program in published coverage. A place in a program is not a raise: the cheque is the figure recorded with the place, which is the program's standard terms where we hold them, and a blank is one we don't.
Companies Commonwealth Bank has backed in a published round, and companies whose existing shares it bought off another holder.
| Company | What it does | First invested | Rounds | Led |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amber Electric | Energy retailer offering flexible, market-driven household energy plans | 23 Dec 2021, Series B | 3 | 2 |
| Amber | 24 Oct 2022, Series B | 1 | 1 | |
| Hometime | Australia’s largest short-term rental property management company | 30 Jan 2026 | 1 | 0 |
| OwnHome | 2020, Accelerator | 2 | 0 | |
| Paypa Plane | 7 Feb 2022 | 2 | 0 | |
| Silicon Quantum Computing | startup founded by Michelle Simmons | May 2017, Seed | 1 | 0 |
Fund closes reported for Commonwealth Bank, as distinct from the investments it has made.
Companies Commonwealth Bank has backed that another company then bought. An exit for the holding, not a deal Commonwealth Bank did.
| Name | Role | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| Ben Morgan | GM of Strategy Investments and Sustainability | Startup Daily |
| Cam Grant | SmartCompany, Tech Funding News - Australia | |
| Karen Last | General Manager of Merchant Solutions | Australian FinTech |
| Kelly Bayer Rosmarin | Executive (former) | Forbes Australia, Australian FinTech |
| Matt Comyn | Managing Director | SmartCompany |
| Michael Blythe | Chief Economist (former) | Australian FinTech |
| Mike Vacy-Lyle | Group Executive, Business Banking (former) | Startup Daily (6 Sep 2023), Australian FinTech, Startup Daily (7 Feb 2022) |
| Victoria Ledda | Executive General Manager, CIO of Institutional Banking & Markets | Australian FinTech |
Stories naming Commonwealth Bank. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
Former Optus CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin warns rogue AI agents in enterprises are inevitable and discusses Aigentsphere, her AI-monitoring startup, which raised a $4 million seed round from Main Sequence in April.
Roundup of the week's Australia and New Zealand raises: Gridsight, Pearler and Apate.AI secure the biggest cheques, Drumbeat and GonGlobal add smaller sums, and ten AI startups join Airwallex's Latitude 37 program.
Sydney quantum computing company Diraq will station an eight-qubit prototype machine inside an Equinix facility from October, a step toward moving the technology from lab to market.
An AFR managed-funds topic page: a star small-caps deputy goes solo with a new Sydney firm, Gigacomm buys rival DGtek, Google plans a multibillion-dollar domestic bond, plus fund manager and market stories.
Hello Clever has brought in Mark Tibbles, a payments industry veteran with a career across major banks and payment firms, to advise the company as it grows.
Australian FinTech introduces Canvas as a new member. Canvas builds infrastructure for tokenised securities, stablecoins and CBDCs, and took part in the Reserve Bank of Australia's eAUD pilot.
A fintech venture fund co-founded by Up Bank's Dom Pym has locked in a $10m first close with Commonwealth Bank's x15ventures as cornerstone backer, aiming for $50m ahead of a 2028 final close.
Roundup of six Australian funding deals: AutoGrab, Applied EV, Checkbox, Hometime, Factory and On the House, with amounts, investors, and Hometime's past acquisitions and raise history detailed.
Also Startup Daily
Sydney short-stay property manager Hometime has secured $19 million in fresh equity and debt, led by Verona Capital with Commonwealth Bank refinancing; the piece also recounts earlier raises and three rival acquisitions.
Vehicle-data platform AutoGrab has raised $80 million led by Octopus Ventures and Movac, valuing the company at $230 million, alongside Premier Capital Partners and existing backers EVP and Ten13.
Also Startup Daily·inspirepreneurmagazine.com·paintandpanel.com.au·autoworldjournal.com·autotalk.com.au·SmartCompany·Startup Daily
Commonwealth Bank's venture arm x15ventures and specialist fund Triple Bubble announce a partnership to support Australian fintechs with capital, mentoring and talent exchange between the bank and startups.
Dom Pym's fintech fund Triple Bubble has formed a partnership with Commonwealth Bank's venture arm x15ventures spanning joint investment, mentorship and talent exchange; financial terms were undisclosed.
Cashrewards, a shopping rebates platform once bought by ANZ's venture arm, is shutting down and returning member balances. It had earlier acquired Little Birdie, previously backed with $30 million by Commonwealth Bank.
Also Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily
Identitii has exited Payble in a $1.6 million stake sale to OIF Ventures, with proceeds going to its BNDRY compliance platform; OIF lifts its holding in the council-payments startup it backed in 2023.
Pet-sitting marketplace Mad Paws has recommended a proposed $62 million takeover by US company Rover, with its Pet Chemist arm earmarked for VetPartners, while earlier raises are recalled.
Amber Electric has bought EV charging app Charge HQ for an undisclosed price; the piece recalls the retailer's Series A, B and C raises from Gentrack, NRMA, Commonwealth Bank, Main Sequence and Square Peg.
Roundup of three Australian raises — ElectraLith, Coposit and Convergence Medical — plus Quantum Brilliance naming its Series A backers and Rokt's secondary share sale.
Aura Group announces Mina Rafla joining as Associate Director in its private credit arm, recounting his earlier roles at Macquarie, Commonwealth Bank and Greensill Capital and his lending focus.
Roundup covering seven Australian companies' recent raises — Splend, Rich Data Co, Slice, InvestorHub, Eyeonic, Graceview and Monty Compost Co — from fleet electrification finance to AI compliance and compost-monitoring seed rounds.
Cashrewards has bought Little Birdie, the deals startup backed by Commonwealth Bank that went quiet in May; the piece also recalls Cashrewards' 2017 Smart50 nod, 2020 ASX float, and later takeover by 1835i Ventures.
Also Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily
A Blackbird partner argues AI has revived vertical software by turning hard-to-sell customers into product-led buyers, noting the firm recently backed three such startups and recalling Aconex's sale to Oracle.
Also buildxact.com
A profile of Startmate ranking the twenty most valuable companies it has backed, noting their valuations, past raises and founders, plus Bugcrowd's newly announced purchase of Informer and its climate focus.
Karta, an Australian gift-card platform, has struck a US deal with Visa, having earlier raised a pre-seed round above $21 million, most of it from Commonwealth Bank.
Little Birdie, a Melbourne shopping-deals marketplace from the Leibovich brothers and Jon Beros, has closed three years after a $30 million backing by Commonwealth Bank.
Roundup of Australian manufacturing news: Matrak closes a Series A, Queensland Pacific Metals receives an R&D tax refund, ARENA funds a household energy trial, Ampcontrol appoints a transformation chief, plus policy and launch briefs.
Also @AuManufacturing
Ahead of its 50 Most Innovative Manufacturers awards breakfast, @AuManufacturing names Advanced Navigation chief executive Xavier Orr as keynote speaker, recounting his company's gyroscope manufacturing, Botany factory and underwater exploration work.
Breakthrough Victoria reports a $4.5 million investment in Amber Electric's $29 million Series C, led by GenTrack with Rubio Impact Ventures, funding jobs and product expansion.
Also Alberts Impact Ventures portfolio·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Early VC
Podcast interview with Adarsh Australia director Faz Pollard discussing post-Covid policy, government procurement, and the group's grant-funded plant recycling waste paper into new products in Western Australia.
Roundup of five Australian startups that secured new capital this week: Amber Electric's $29m Series C, ProcurePro's $6.15m, Yume's $2m seed, Alt.Leather's $1.1m seed, plus an undisclosed Tenacious Ventures investment in Nbryo.
Podcast profile in which EMVision chief Scott Kirkland discusses the company's portable bedside brain scanner for stroke, its origins in Queensland research, grant backing, and plans for 2024 trials and a second device.
Compostable packaging maker BioPak is entering Hong Kong before its plastic ban; the profile recalls Five V's 2022 $65.8 million stake at a $275 million valuation and flags possible acquisitions.
Sydney payments startup Payble has raised $3.5 million in an OIF Ventures-led round, bringing its seed total to $6 million, with earlier backing from Commonwealth Bank's x15ventures.
Also Startup Daily
A rolling roundup of Australian energy-sector job moves, listing dozens of executives, directors and ministers joining or leaving utilities, regulators, developers and industry bodies between May and December 2023.
Birth Beat founder Edwina Sharrock reflects on the maternity-education company's acquisition by Device Technologies, recalling its awards, accelerator stint and seed round, and outlining plans to back female founders.
Paydock and Commonwealth Bank have launched PowerBoard, giving Australian merchants flexible payment options. The article also recalls Paydock's £25 million Series A completed with UK firm Silverstripe Investment Management.
Commonwealth Bank's venture arm is buying invoice lender Waddle from Xero for an undisclosed sum, undoing Xero's 2020 purchase, to boost the bank's working-capital offering.
E-commerce firm Little Birdie has released a browser extension alerting shoppers to better prices, aiming to help small retailers compete; the Australian company launched in 2021 backed by a $30m Commonwealth Bank investment.
Wollemi Capital, the Sydney climate investor, has closed a $220m raise, past its initial $100m goal, backed by CBA, Trawalla and others; the article recalls its bets on Loam Bio, Pluton Bio and Pachama.
Property management startup Different has gone into administration with KPMG after failing to raise new capital, despite backing from AirTree and CBA's venture arm; the piece also recalls the failures of Milkrun and Brosa.
ARN reports Michelle Bendschneider becomes CEO of Connetico, new parent of cloud firms Arinco, Cevo and D6, with Lara Wright as CFO, after Quadrant fund backing; Kloud's earlier sale to Telstra is recalled.