CBA's X15 Ventures invests $150k in Splashup

The Commonwealth Bank's venture-scaling arm X15 Ventures has named e-commerce startup Splashup the winner of its Xccelerate21 community program.

Splashup co-founders Nathalie Rafeh (L) and Vivek Bharadwaj (R)
CBA Newsroom

Splashup plans to integrate with ecommerce websites and act as a AI-product discovery tool for consumers looking for specific results.

X15 announced Xccelerate21 in partnership with financial technology startup hub Stone & Chalk in June to find startups to "reimagine how customers shop, pay and are rewarded."

As part of the prize, Splashup have secured a $150,000 investment from X15 Ventures through a simple agreement for future equity (SAFE) note.

SAFE notes are a method of seed capital raising that gives an investor the ability to purchase stock in future capital financing rounds.

The Splashup team will also be mentored by Zip Co non-executive director John Batistich as part of the price.

X15 Ventures head of portfolio Yish Koh said the startup was selected due to its “customer-led approach to reinventing the shopping experience, while supporting retailers to improve conversion and gather more data on what customers are looking for”.

Splashup co-founders Nathalie Rafeh and Vivek Bharadwaj began the startup in 2020.

Rafeh said “the retail landscape is changing rapidly with a lot of opportunity to pave the way for the new era of ecommerce”.

“The enthusiasm shown by X15 for what we are doing at Splashup and our area of play was enough for us to know that Xccelerate21 is the right place to be – we believe the team will help fuel us in the right direction,” he said.

Rafeh said access to the CBA network, expertise present in the program and the funding will help the business achieve new goals.

Other finalist of the program included other digital retail platforms - Four2, Shop You, Sales Optics and Bramp.