Corporate / CVC · 19 deals
Sydney, NSW
Every published round CBA 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 CBA 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 CBA 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 | 26 May 2021, Series B | 3 | 2 | |
| Givvable | 30 Jul 2020, Grant | 1 | 0 | |
| Golden Plains wind farm | 30 Nov 2022, Venture debt | 1 | 0 | |
| Hometime | 30 Jan 2026 | 1 | 0 | |
| Klarna | 7 Aug 2019 | 3 | 0 | |
| Little Birdie | 24 May 2021 | 1 | 1 | |
| Lygon | 28 Sep 2021, Seed | 1 | 0 | |
| OwnHome | 30 Nov 2020, Accelerator | 2 | 0 | |
| Paypa Plane | 7 Feb 2022 | 2 | 0 | |
| Silicon Quantum Computing | May 2017, Seed | 3 | 0 | |
| Slyp | 9 Sep 2019 | 1 | 0 |
This is a stake in the fund itself, money that the fund's manager invests, not a stake in the fund manager.
Companies CBA has backed that another company then bought. An exit for the holding, not a deal CBA did.
| Company | Bought by | Kind | Announced | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Little Birdie | Cashrewards | Acquisition | 2025 | - |
Companies CBA acquired or merged with, per published coverage. Buying a company is not investing in one: nothing here counts in the deals column.
| Company | Kind | Announced | Price | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Property Exchange (PEXA) | Acquisition | 1Q 2019 | $1.6b | Startup Daily, Australian FinTech, Techboard |
| PEXA | Acquisition | Jan 2019 | $1.6b | Techboard (Wed 20 May 2020), Startup News (WA), Startup Daily (Wed 1 May 2019), Startup Daily (Wed 1 May 2019), Techboard (Wed 6 Feb 2019) |
Stories naming CBA. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
Weekly digest: Firmus withdraws its planned listing, Square Peg reaches a billion-dollar close on two vehicles, MUFG clears regulators to buy Grow Inc, and Lubdub, RocketDNA, Energy Bay and Metal all raise.
OnDeck Australia has hired Chris McCall as its inaugural Chief Credit Officer, bringing credit and lending experience from Citizens Bank and other major lenders; he reports to Chief Risk Officer Nicholas Brown.
Xpansiv has wrapped a growth equity round with Blackstone, Macquarie, CBA, Goldman Sachs, Aware Super and Aramco Ventures among its backers, as the IPO hopeful looks to fund expansion in Australia and globally.
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.
Apate.AI, which deploys conversational AI to disrupt phone fraud, has banked $11.4 million in seed backing from Lobby Capital and others, with proceeds earmarked for overseas growth and a US re-incorporation.
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.
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.
The National Reconstruction Fund has put another $40m into Sydney quantum chip maker Silicon Quantum Computing, following its $20m investment three months earlier, part of a larger round still underway.
Main Sequence's post sets out why the fund backed Aigentsphere, which builds governance tooling for enterprise AI agents, citing the founders' banking backgrounds and a $4 million seed raise.
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.
Weekly roundup detailing eight trans-Tasman raises totalling A$373.3 million, headlined by Halter's Series E, spanning quantum computing, biomanufacturing, robotics, adtech and agtech, plus a recalled $2 billion founder exit.
Also Startup Daily
The National Reconstruction Fund has put $20 million into Sydney quantum chip maker Silicon Quantum Computing via a SAFE note, following its smaller-than-planned 2023 Series A and a similar NRF bet on Diraq.
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
Startup Daily profiles Juxtabyte, a data governance startup founded by former CBA data governance lead Hugh Le, ahead of the Techstars Sydney 2025 cohort's Demo the Future event.
Linktree has bought Melbourne rival Fingertip and will shut it down in 2026, with its cofounders joining; the piece also recaps Linktree's earlier acquisitions and the Leibovich brothers' failed ventures.
Also Dealroom·Forbes Australia
ANZ is winding up its venture arm 1835i and has shut Cashrewards after selling its Airwallex stake; the piece also recalls Airwallex's later raises and CBA's Klarna investment, stake sale and New York listing.
ANZ is winding up 1835i, its externally managed venture arm, weeks after selling its Airwallex stake; the piece recalls Cashrewards' takeover and closure, Airwallex raises, and CBA's Klarna windfall.
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.
Ampyr has locked in bank debt above A$340m, a Zen Energy virtual offtake and Fluence as battery supplier for its first large battery in NSW, with a 6 GWh storage goal for 2030.
Frollo, a NextGen subsidiary, launched a portal giving mortgage brokers Open Banking access to verified client financial data, already integrated with aggregators and major banks.
Energy retailer Amber has raised $45 million in a round led by ETF Partners to grow its home-battery and EV automation business overseas, having bought charging app Charge HQ earlier this year.
Also Startup Daily
Iress has hired Adam Webb from Count for a newly created senior customer role in its wealth division, starting in March; leaders at both firms welcomed the appointment.
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.
Also Startup Daily
Wesfarmers is closing Catch, the online retailer it bought for $230 million in 2019, citing local ecommerce competition; the story also recalls Catch's venture backers and Little Birdie's $30m stake, pause and rescue.
Also Startup Daily
Roundup of three Australian raises — ElectraLith, Coposit and Convergence Medical — plus Quantum Brilliance naming its Series A backers and Rokt's secondary share sale.
Adelaide charity KIK Innovation has bought schools e-learning platform Grok Academy after backers including CBA withdrew following the founder's resignation over substantiated harassment allegations; the platform will continue under new ownership.
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.
Profiles ten Australian women founders across prosthetics, sustainable materials, wellness, mental health and AI, including three recipients of a Xero award program and a Cartier fellowship.
Also SmartCompany
Interview with Constantinople co-founder Di Challenor on her banking career and the record $32 million seed round she and Mac Duncan raised from Square Peg, Airtree and Great Southern Bank.
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·Startup Daily
Akaysha Energy has $650 million from 11 banks and an EnergyAustralia offtake to build its Orana battery in NSW, which it calls the world's largest single-battery investment; BlackRock bought the company in 2022.