Commonwealth Bank’s (CBA) venture-scaling entity x15ventures has announced the appointment of Laura Faulconer as its new portfolio director.
Ms Faulconer joins the company from global early-stage VC firm, Antler, where she led the portfolio function and healthtech and deeptech investments as associate partner.
In her new role with x15ventures, Ms Faulconer will be responsible for growing and maturing its portfolio by scouting new ventures and providing support to its existing ventures.
“I’m a builder at heart. Over the years, I’ve built houses, companies, and I knew this would be an opportunity to not only help create some incredible, purposeful ventures, but also stand up the type of support structures that makes x15 the best strategic partner a venture could possibly have,” Ms Faulconer said.
“We want x15 to be a source of advantage for startups, helping them to build toward solving real and important problems, scale quickly but safely, and ultimately access CBA’s customer base and distribution networks.”
Toby Norton-Smith, x15ventures’ managing director, added: “As an experienced investor who has not only led investments and support for a diverse range of companies – including in regulated industries – but also established and scaled the systems for making and supporting these types of investments, Laura is uniquely equipped to take our portfolio to its next phase of growth.
“She has a proven track record of taking IP-rich technologies to market, and is already bringing that experience to bear in support of our ventures. We couldn’t be happier to have her join the x15 team.”
Ms Faulconer’s appointment follows a number of recent hires including Cormac O’Mahony, Ram Bhat and Bronwyn Galvin.
