CBA backs ‘live now, buy later’ start-up that will ditch home deposits

Commonwealth Bank of Australia has joined a $31 million investment round in property technology start-up OwnHome, which says it can get thousands of first home buyers out of perpetual renting by adopting a model, similar to buy now, pay later, which removes the need for unaffordable deposit and stamp duty payments.

The funding round was led by venture capital firm Square Peg, with CBA investing via its x15ventures arm, which looks to back start-ups it believes can grow to add new services for its customers. Other investors including Global Founders Capital, Entrée Capital, AfterWork, and Possible Ventures returned from an earlier funding round last year to chip in more capital.