CommBank Momentum’s Innovation Alley: Sustainability in action

CommBank's sustainability conference, Momentum, returned for 2025, bringing together business leaders and innovators across sectors to focus on one key topic, accelerating Australia’s transition to a more sustainable future.

This, the fourth iteration of the event, saw thought leaders across finance, technology, agriculture, social enterprise and beyond converge under one roof to discuss sustainability in business and to spotlight some of the most impactful movements we’re seeing in this space today.

One of the highlights of the 2025 program was the exciting “Innovation Alley”, a showcase of forward-thinking Australian businesses turning bold ideas into practical solutions.

For Sarah Lalor, General Manager Environmental and Social, CommBank, corporations like the ones presented in Innovation Alley represent a tangible shift in the way businesses are approaching, and viewing, environmental goals.

“Only a few years ago, sustainability commitments were often aspirational and rarely incorporated into the strategy of our clients,” she says. “Today, businesses are focused on the commercial imperative, implementing changes that make a real difference to their bottom line.”

“Only a few years ago, sustainability commitments were often aspirational and rarely incorporated into the strategy of our clients. Today, businesses are focused on the commercial imperative, implementing changes that make a real difference to their bottom line.”
- Sarah Lalor, General Manager Environmental and Social, CommBank

Lalor stresses that in 2025, we’re certainly seeing sustainable business strategies underpinned by environmental or social reasons, “but more often it’s due to a commercial reason such as cost reduction, brand loyalty or access to new markets. This shift reflects a growing understanding that sustainability isn’t just good for the planet, it’s good for business.”

This intersection of good business sense and environmental impact is a space that CommBank is proud to work in. One that embraces a real breadth of industries as well as business leaders.

“Diversity of thought is one of the key enablers to innovation,” says Mitchell Heritage, Executive Manager for Indigenous Business Banking, CommBank. “When people are able to bring their whole selves to the table, we are able to get greater outcomes.”

“Diversity of thought is one of the key enablers to innovation. When people can bring their whole selves to the table, we are able to get greater outcomes.”
-Mitchell Heritage, Executive Manager for Indigenous Business Banking, CommBank

“It’s incredibly important to us at CommBank to support the communities that we serve,” says Heritage. “We understand our obligation and know that outcomes are the true measurement for how we are doing that.”

Ahead, we’ve selected a handful of some of the inspiring businesses present at Momentum’s Innovation Alley for 2025 and shared reflections from their leaders on sustainability and innovation today. 

Redefining procurement with Supply Nation

As Australia’s largest directory of verified Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses, Supply Nation is transforming procurement by embedding social impact into every dollar spent.

“Primarily, what we do is support the growth and commercial success of Indigenous-owned businesses through supplier diversity and procurement,” says Kate Russell, Supply Nation, CEO, and a proud Awabakal woman from Lake Macquarie. “Our ultimate goal is economic self-empowerment, self-determination and intergenerational wealth.”

The business works to achieve that through a rigorous verification process ensuring authenticity. Over the course of 16 years, it has grown to build a cohort of 6000 First Nations business profiles. These span everything from clothing to construction. “You name it, we’ve got it,” says Russell.

Russell explains that the work they do in helping organisations find and engage with First Nations business has an incredible flow-on effect. She shares that in the latest Supply Nation’s Sleeping Giant Rises report, the organisation found that every dollar which goes into a First Nations business creates $3.66 of what it calls ‘social return on investment’ (SROI). Supply Nation says, “The value created by Indigenous businesses has been shown to address Closing the Gap targets around health and wellbeing; childhood education; employment opportunities; housing affordability; and connection to Culture and Country”.

“This year, we had a record $5.8 billion of contracts go through our organisation into Indigenous businesses,” Russell notes. “These results reinforce that supply diversity isn’t just a fad, it’s a movement. It’s here to stay. Not only does it make social sense, it makes business sense.”

“This year, we had a record $5.8 billion of contracts go through our organisation into Indigenous businesses. These results reinforce that supply diversity isn’t just a fad, it’s a movement. It’s here to stay. Not only does it make social sense, it makes business sense.”
- Kate Russell, CEO, Supply Nation

For Russell, Momentum represents an opportunity “to speak with existing members and suppliers, but primarily it’s a chance to spread the word about supplier diversity and the economic and social benefits that come with it.” 

Practical home energy updates through ValAi

Allys Todd, co-founder and CEO, ValAi, shares that her business’ mission “is to make every home part of the climate and cost-saving solution. We’re here to help power the nation’s Home Energy Upgrade movement.”

The organisation uses Australian-built AI systems to turn complex property and energy data into clear, personalised insights that show how homes can cut energy costs, improve comfort and lower emissions. For Todd, this dissemination of data is powerful, because it opens up doors for potentially significant sustainability shifts.

“We help homeowners, but we do that through partnering with institutions,” says Todd. “We inform their clients on how to make smarter, impact driven decisions. If we can make home upgrades easy, fast and rewarding for the homeowner, that’s where the unique piece starts.”

Institutions like CommBank have been paramount in helping ValAi connect with Aussie households to achieve more sustainable and potentially affordable outcomes.

“At the moment, over 10,000 households within the CommBank community have already engaged with ValAi data and we’ve identified an average of about $2200 in potential energy savings per home,” says Todd.

At Momentum 2025, ValAi demonstrated its Home Energy Score and Assessment Tool known as HEAT, which offers potential upgrade options for specific properties, along with the appropriate finance and installation partners that can help make those changes a reality through the CommBank Network.

“In the past, sustainability has been quite abstract, but now, through data and measurable things at scale, we’re able to come together and show tangible results and actions people can take,” says Todd.

“In the past, sustainability has been quite abstract, but now, through data and measurable things at scale, we’re able to come together and show tangible results and actions people can take.” Allys Todd, co-founder and CEO, ValAi

Simplifying agritech through PairTree

An Australian agritech pioneer, Pairtree integrates data from more than 100 sources to give farmers a single, secure view of their operations. Its universal API (application programming interface) and data code certification make complex farm data simple and actionable.

Hamish Munro, a fifth-generation farmer and the co-founder of Pairtree, boils down the value of the business’ innovation to this, “It really overcomes the issue of fragmented data”.

“Pairtree acts as an API for agriculture,” he says. “It really helps farmers work within the apps they use to record livestock movements, crop sprays, animal weights, how much rain or soil moisture there is or how much water is in their tank.”

The offering provides farmers with data that can aid them to holistically look at their farms and areas that can be improved on. But it also enables them to share valuable data with institutions like CommBank for lending or pre-approval needs. 

For Munro, Momentum is an exciting event, because it brings all kinds of clients and stakeholders together to focus on sustainability.

In Innovation Alley, Pairtree displayed live data from real farms. “People could come and see what that looks like,” says Munro. “They could look at stock water or pasture, or a whole range of weather station data.”

“We really appreciate that CommBank has shown strong leadership in recognising the opportunity for data in agriculture.”

“We really appreciate that CommBank has shown strong leadership in recognising the opportunity for data in agriculture.”
- Hamish Munro, Co-founder, Pairtree

Momentum’s Innovation Alley demonstrated how diverse Australian innovators are turning sustainability challenges into practical opportunities, from smarter procurement to cleaner homes to data-driven agriculture. As the country moves toward a low-emissions future, CommBank remains committed to supporting organisations building measurable, scalable solutions for business and community. The conversations sparked at Momentum 2025 are just the beginning of the exchanges needed to drive Australia’s transition.