The Commonwealth Bank’s venture-scaling arm x15ventures and fintech-focused fund Triple Bubble have announced a strategic partnership to support innovation in Australia’s financial technology ecosystem.
The partnership includes an investment, exploration of new fintech opportunities using x15’s bank-safe venture stack, and the development of a mutual mentorship and talent exchange program, to give startups enterprise insight and provide emerging bank talent with hands-on experience inside high-growth ventures.
“We’ve built a model that’s proven effective in helping startups scale while deepening the CommBank proposition – but there’s always room to improve, especially in how we identify future ventures and talent. Partnering with Triple Bubble strengthens our role as a bridge between corporate and startup – opening venture opportunities that can benefit from our capability, while giving fintech founders and bank talent the chance to learn complementary skills,” x15 Managing Director Toby Norton-Smith said.
Triple Bubble is Oceania’s first-of-its-kind, fintech-specific investment fund, purposely designed to support promising early-stage ventures that often struggle to raise capital. Founded in 2024 by Dom Pym (Up Bank, Ferocia, Pin Payments), Brian Collins (Audacity Ventures, Startup Bootcamp), and Judy Anderson-Firth (Euphemia, Startup Victoria), Triple Bubble’s unique model provides capital and strategic guidance at the startup, scale-up, and liquidity stages – the three ‘bubbles’ where fintechs need it most.
"This partnership is a bold signal of leadership from Australia’s biggest banking institution," Mr Pym said. "Our fintech ecosystem is thriving but still underserved. What fintech founders need is capital, access to mentors, and large companies that believe in them. With CommBank stepping up, we’re bridging critical gaps in Australian fintech investment and showing real commitment to bold ideas and the entrepreneurs behind them. Together, we can unlock opportunities for founders, attract and retain world-class talent, and prove that fintech is one of this country’s great growth engines.”
Working with Triple Bubble is a reflection on CommBank’s broader strategic vision of connecting startup agility with institutional scale to drive long-term impact across the financial services sector.
“Startups play an important role in economic dynamism. CommBank is continuing to support the startup ecosystem, building new opportunities for talent and collaboration to help the next generation of fintechs grow here in Australia,” CommBank Group Executive Group Strategy Stuart Munro said.
The terms of the deal are undisclosed.
About x15ventures
x15ventures is a venture scaler powered by CommBank. Founded in 2020, x15 builds, buys and invests in startups that would benefit from connections to Australia’s leading bank, and could improve the lives of its more than 15 million customers, by either reimagining existing CommBank products or services, or offering solutions not traditionally classed as finance, but that could extend the bank’s relationship and relevance with customers.
x15’s platform model combines the latest cloud technology (running on a separate tech stack to CommBank) with enterprise grade controls, enabling ventures to innovate at pace in a 'bank safe' environment, and scale through access to CommBank assets – including capital, brand, and customer distribution – once ready.
For more, please visit: x15ventures.com.au
About Triple Bubble
Triple Bubble is Oceania's first fit-for-purpose fintech fund. Unlike traditional venture funds, Triple Bubble takes a stage-agnostic approach across three ‘bubbles’: Private markets (from pre-product to late stage), secondary equities, and pre-IPO/public fintechs. This first-of-its-kind model provides multiple pathways to liquidity while delivering capital, connections, and strategic guidance at the moments fintech founders need it most.
For more, please visit: triplebubble.com
