The Xccelerate 2022 programme helps early-stage ventures understand the pathway to partnering with CBA and culminates in an Investment Pitch Night in front of x15, CBA, and additional corporate venture arms and pure-play VCs. Applications to take part opened on Monday 1 August 2022 and close Thursday 1 September 2022, with a focus on start-ups shaping the future of Australian payments. Shortlisted applicants will be invited to a 30-minute virtual meeting with a member of the x15 Portfolio team, intended to dive deeper into their venture, with 15 to 20 teams selected to progress to the Xccelerate Community Day on 13 September. Toby Norton-Smith, managing director, x15ventures, says: “Xccelerate 2022 is an investment programme for founders interested in scaling their businesses with enterprise partners. From an early investment, ventures can deepen their relationship with CBA, with potential for further investment, opening a pathway to distribution, integration, and other strategic benefits. “Payments are infrastructure - this is a blessing and a curse for any start-up - the benefits of delivering new innovation are enormous as they cut across the economy, but the threshold for getting it right is equally high. This is why enterprise partnership could be one way to remove some risk for founders. We’re looking forward to receiving high-calibre applications.” The three-part Xccelerate programme will help early-stage teams understand how to navigate enterprise sales and strategic partnerships; connect with experts in fields such as risk, legal, cyber and marketing; and pitch for funding that can help facilitate a pathway to a strategic partnership with CBA via x15. Laura Faulconer, portfolio director, x15ventures, comments: “For this year’s Xccelerate we’re interested in teams innovating anywhere across the payments ecosystem, in areas like making payments more efficient and intelligent, solving cash flow challenges for small businesses, or providing value-add services at the point-of-sale. “After two years of Xccelerate being a virtual-only event, we’re really pleased to be able to offer this year’s applicants the chance to join us for a series of in-person workshops, mentoring sessions, and panel discussions." Previous Xccelerate alumni include givvable (winner in 2020), OwnHome (winner of the second cohort in 2020) and last year’s top team Splashup.