CBA's X15ventures invests in OwnHome

CBA's venture-scaling arm X15ventures made a minority investment in Australian fintech OwnHome as part of its Series A fundraising round.

OwnHome is a "rent-to-own" startup that purchases property for a homebuyer and leases it back to them for up to seven years, during which time they can build up a deposit and secure finance to buy it outright.

CBA stated OwnHome currently has 3500 applicants on its waitlist, with plans to purchase 200 homes for approved customers over the next two years.

The Series A funding round was reportedly worth $31 million and was led by X15ventures and global investment firm SquarePeg.

OwnHome secured an additional $150,000 in funding through X15ventures' Xccelerate2020 event last year.

The investment adds to CBA’s growing list of home buying businesses, which include Doshii and :Different.  

CBA’s group executive retail banking services Angus Sullivan said the latest investment is “helping to address one of the biggest challenges currently facing first-time home buyers”.

“As Australia’s largest lender to first homebuyers, innovating and improving the home buying journey is the cornerstone of what we are doing to help our customers," Sullivan said.

"Today’s investment in OwnHome will provide greater choice to those who dream of home ownership but seek a different route to the traditional rent-and-save approach."