Legal Terms
Welcome to x15!
We’re excited that you’re interested in us but before you start exploring our website (the Site) or if you’re submitting a Proposal with us, please take a look through your legal rights and obligations and accept these terms and conditions.
We’ve included summary paragraphs at the top of key sections to help explain what’s coming up.
When you see a capitalised word, the meaning can be found in the Definitions section (at the end). Capitalised terms will have the same corresponding meaning every time it’s used within these terms.
If you have any questions about these Terms or our Services, please contact us at info@x15.com.au.
By accessing or using the Site or submitting a Proposal (whether through the Site, via Application forms at x15 and Xccelerate pages, email or otherwise) and having any related discussions or correspondence with x15 or its Related Bodies Corporate (eg, CBA), you agree to be bound by these terms and conditions (as may be modified by x15 from time to time and posted on this Site).
Submitting a Proposal to x15
1. Overview
Have you got the next big venture? Does your venture solve a real customer problem? Could your venture have significant value added to it via x15 and CBA? If so, then we would love to hear from you.
We may share your Proposal with our Related Bodies Corporate (eg, CBA) but only for the purposes outlined in these terms and conditions.
Therefore please be careful and consider the sensitivity of the information you share with us.
It is your responsibility not to not share any commercially sensitive or confidential information or any other information or data that might affect your capacity to protect and/or exploit intellectual property rights in the future. We recommend that you seek legal advice in relation to material provided to x15.
CBA New Digital Businesses Pty Ltd (“x15” or “We”) is a company that is designed to bring to life the next generation of digital solutions. x15 are open to considering certain proposals from early stage ventures (“Proposals”), subject to these terms and conditions.
x15 enters into these terms and conditions solely on its own behalf, and not on behalf of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia ABN 48 123 123 124) (CBA) and its other Related Bodies Corporate.
Your rights under these terms and conditions are enforceable only against x15. Notwithstanding any other term of these terms and conditions to the contrary:
nothing in these terms and conditions binds CBA or its other Related Bodies Corporate in contract or otherwise; and
x15 is not an agent of or otherwise authorised to make representations on behalf of CBA or its other Related Bodies Corporate.
2. Submission Process and x15 Rights
Your submission of a Proposal is free of charge. However, you will be responsible forany costs and expenses (eg, travel) associated with the submission of your Proposal unless we agree otherwise.
Your submission of a Proposal is free of charge. Notwithstanding the sentence above, unless otherwise approved by x15, Applicants are responsible for all costs and expenses associated with submitting a Proposal, including costs and expenses associated with (i) creating, providing and/or communicating Pitch Decks and any additional submissions requested by x15, and (ii) any travel, food or communication costs associated with meeting with x15.
Upon receipt of any Proposal, x15 will consider the Proposal at its discretion and will communicate with the Applicant (at its designated contact details) if x15 has any questions, seeks further information or would like to discuss the Proposal further. If x15 seeks to engage with the Applicant further, it will provide details of such engagement when x15 communicates with the Applicant. To avoid doubt, x15 is under no obligation to communicate with the Applicant following its receipt of any Proposal.
x15 reserves the right to, at any time, without reason and at x15’s sole discretion:
refuse a Proposal or refuse to review or continue to review all or any part of a Proposal; and/or.
to commence, adjust, cancel, terminate, or suspend any correspondence between x15 and an Applicant with respect to any Proposal received by x15.
By submitting a Proposal, the Applicant acknowledges and agrees that any discussions relating to the Proposal and its subject matter are non-exclusive, and nothing in these terms and conditions:
obligates x15 to continue with, pursue or otherwise (i) consider the Proposal or related subject matter, or (ii) to invest in or otherwise consider entering into any investment related deal or contract with any Applicant; and
prevents x15 from: (i) discussing any commercial, business and industry opportunities; or (ii) negotiating any other investment or agreement, contract, arrangement or understanding with any other person (including any competitor product of the Applicant).
3. Intellectual Property, Confidentiality and Warranties
This section outlines key terms involving Intellectual Property Rights, Confidentiality and Warranties.
You agree that we will be entitled to assume that anything you provide us as part of any Proposal will not be confidential or proprietary.
Due to a large number of Pitch Decks and related materials that we review or develop internally across the CBA Group, and the similarity of such materials, we cannot accept responsibility or have any liability in respect of use or disclosure of your Proposal unless we specifically agree otherwise with you in writing.
We expect you to take precautions to protect our Confidential Information and to not make any public announcements or use x15, CBA or any other Related Bodies Corporate branding without seeking our approval first.
3.1 Intellectual Property Rights
The following Intellectual Property terms and conditions apply.
(ownership and licence by Applicants) Subject to the “Acknowledgements that x15 is exposed to other IP” clause below in this 3.1, the Applicant will retain its Pre-existing Intellectual Property Rights contained in the Proposal, and nothing in these Terms and Conditions assigns or transfers the Pre-existing Intellectual Property Rights to x15.
(Applicant licence) Subject to clause 3.2, each Applicant grants to x15 (and its Related Bodies Corporate and third-party suppliers and advisors to the extent they are providing services to x15) a perpetual, non-exclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free license to use, distribute, disclose, reproduce, or modify any Applicant Material and Proposal, or permit a third party to do any of those things, solely for the purpose of considering, and reporting on the Proposal.
(identification of third party information) Any third-party intellectual property rights or third-party data used by Applicants in their entry must be clearly identified by the Applicants as well as the applicable terms of license and other details relating to use of same.
(x15 Material) Except as otherwise noted on the Site, all x15 Material is the sole and exclusive property of x15 or our licensors. Nothing you do on or in relation to the Site or in respect of any Submission will transfer any Intellectual Property Rights in x15 Material to you.
(acknowledgement that x15 is exposed to other IP) Each Applicant acknowledges and agrees: (i) x15 has access to many ideas, concepts, inventions, and intellectual property (“Other Material”) which may be similar or identical to the Applicant’s Proposal and that x15 reserves all rights it has to use such independently acquired or separately developed Other Material; and (ii) the Applicant hereby waives any and all claims that the Applicant may have against x15 as a result of x15’s use of Other Material that may be similar or identical to the Applicant’s Pre-existing Intellectual Property Rights or other material independently developed by the Applicant.
(indemnity) Each Applicant hereby indemnifies and keeps x15 and its Related Bodies Corporate, employees, and directors indemnified against, and must pay x15 on demand against all claims, liabilities, expenses, costs (including legal costs) and damages that x15 or its Related Bodies Corporate, employees and/or directors may incur or suffer that arise out of: (i) the Applicant’s breach of clause 3 of these terms and conditions; and (ii) any content provided in relation to or as part of the Applicant’s Proposal, including the Applicant’s Pre-existing Intellectual Property Rights.
3.2 Confidentiality, Privacy and Publicity
(confidentiality) Each Applicant agrees to: (i) keep confidential, and not use or disclose, any Confidential Information of x15; and (ii) not provide any Applicant Confidential Information to x15 in the Proposal.
(destruction or return of Confidential Information) Each Applicant that receives Confidential Information of x15 must, on the request of x15, return or destroy such Confidential Information.
(privacy) By submitting a Proposal, the Applicant agrees to x15’s Privacy Policy available on the Site, including any updates that may be made to such policy from time to time by x15 at its discretion.
(publicity) An Applicant must not:
- Make any public or press announcement or release relating to x15, any response by or correspondence with x15 in relation to the Applicant’s Proposal, and/or these Terms and Conditions; or
- Reproduce, disclose, display or otherwise make available any x15 Material or name, trade marks, logos or other indicia of x15, CBA or any Related Bodies Corporate, without the prior written approval of x15.
For the avoidance of doubt, x15 may reproduce, disclose, display or otherwise make available any Applicant’s name, trade marks, logos or other indicia of Applicant, as part of any public or press announcement without the prior approval of the Applicant.
3.3 Applicant warranties
Each Applicant represents and warrants that:
(Applicant Material and Proposal) the Applicant’s Material and Proposal, and the use of that Applicant Material and Proposal: (i) does not infringe the Intellectual Property Rights of any person; (ii) does not breach any obligations owed by the Applicant to any person, including without limitation obligations of privacy or confidentiality; and (iii) does not breach any law;
(rights and licences) the Applicant has all licences, permissions and consents required to provide the Applicant Material and Proposal, including any moral rights consents.
(notice) the Applicant will notify x15 if the Applicant becomes aware that any Harmful Code has been introduced into the Proposal or any x15 Environments.
(no commercialisation) the Applicant will not attempt to or commercialise or publicly exploit any x15 Material.
4. Website Terms
This section relates specifically to your use of our Site.
(Disclaimer) The Site and all the content of this Site is provided “as is” and for information only and without warranty of any kind, either express or implied (whether by common law, custom, statute or otherwise) and all other conditions, statements and warranties are hereby excluded to the fullest amount permissible by law. Without prejudice to the foregoing, x15 does not give and hereby expressly exclude any and all warranties, representations, undertakings, guarantees or other terms relating to the accuracy, completeness, currency, reliability or fitness for a particular purpose of any materials or information contained on the Site.
(Third-party websites) This site may include links to other websites as a convenience. We do not make any express or implied warranties in respect of and we will have no liability arising out of or related to any operators of linked sites or any information, material, products, or services that are contained on or accessible through linked sites. Without limiting the foregoing, these sites are in no way approved, vetted, checked or endorsed by us. If you choose to access a website beyond our control, you do so at your own risk.
(Links) If you link our Site to any material you distribute, including emails or your website, the following terms in this clause (Links) apply:
- Your Site must not contain the following: (A) Illegal, sexually explicit, pornographic, or otherwise offensive or distasteful material; (B) content promoting gaming, wagering or betting sites; (C) instructions on the manufacture and/or use of illegal drugs, or other dangerous materials; (D) material that promotes harassment, hatred or discrimination based on age, race, religion, gender, sexual preference or any other factor; (E) defamatory, disparaging, abusive, threatening or offensive messages (whether aimed at our company or a third party); and/or (F) false or misleading information about our products and services or products and services of our Related Bodies Corporate; and
- To the extent permitted by law, neither we nor any of our Related Bodies Corporate will be liable for any loss or damage from any cause (including negligence) to your site(s) and/or system(s), or to people linking to us from your site(s), caused by or in connection with your link to our Site. If you create a link to our Site, you remain fully responsible for any consequences of that link, whether direct or indirect, and you will protect us against all loss, damage, liability, cost or expense arising from or in connection with the link.
5. Liability
This section is important as it outlines liability terms between us, so we urge you to read it closely and in full.
(non-excludable guarantees) Nothing in these terms limits, excludes or modifies or purports to limit, exclude or modify the statutory consumer guarantees as provided under the Competition and Consumer Act, as well as any other implied warranties under the ASIC Act or similar consumer protection laws in the states and territories of Australia (Non-Excludable Guarantees).
(x15 disclaimer) Except for any liability that cannot by law be excluded, including the Non-Excludable Guarantees, x15 and its Related Bodies Corporate (including its respective directors, officers, employees and agents) are not responsible for and exclude all liability, whether in contract, tort (including negligence) or otherwise, for any personal injury, or any loss, claim or damage (including loss of opportunity, loss or corruption of data, loss of profit, goodwill or damage to reputation) whether direct, indirect, special or consequential, arising in any way out of, or in connection with, the Site or any content on the Site, your submission and our review of your Proposal or any breach of these terms and conditions.
(Indemnity) You indemnify us and our Related Bodies Corporate and our respective officers, employees and agents against all actions, claims and demands (including the cost of defending or settling any action, claim or demand) which may be instituted against us arising out of a failure by you to comply with clause 4 of these terms and conditions.
6. General
6.1 Miscellaneous
(Proposals) Any Proposal not complying with these terms is invalid. Errors and omissions may be accepted or rejected by x15 (at its sole discretion).
(waiver) Failure by x15 to enforce any of its rights at any stage does not constitute a waiver of those rights.
(x15’s ability to adjust these terms) x15 may adjust these Terms and Conditions at any time and/or may remove the ability for Applicants to submit Proposals.
(governing law) These terms and conditions shall be governed by the laws of New South Wales and subject to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of New South Wales.
6.2 Contact
If Applicants have any questions or are unable to complete the application form due to accessibility limitations of the form or due to an issue (i.e, availability) with x15’s Site, please contact x15 at info@x15.com.au.
7. Definitions
Capitalised terms used in these Terms and Conditions have the following meaning unless otherwise identified:
Confidential Information of x15 means any information:
regarding the business of x15 or x15’s Related Bodies Corporate;
x15 Material
regarding these terms, or any commercial arrangement between an Applicant and x15;
which is by its nature confidential or which is designated as confidential by x15;
which is “personal information” as that term is defined in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth);
which an Applicant knows, or ought to know, is confidential; and/or
All copies of any of the information referred to above.
For certainty, Confidential Information does not include information that is:
in the public domain otherwise than as a result of a breach of these terms or another obligation of confidence;
independently developed by the recipient;
already known by the recipient independently of its interaction with the other party and free of any obligation of confidence; or
that must be disclosed at law.
Applicant means any person or team who submits a Proposal, including on behalf of an entity as set out in these Terms and Conditions
Applicant Material means the Applicant’s Pre-existing Intellectual Property Rights and any contributions, including ideas or skills, owned by or licensed to an Applicant and provided or communicated to x15 as part of or in relation to the Proposal and its contents, including any correspondence or discussions with x15.
Intellectual Property Rights means all intellectual property rights including current and future registered and unregistered rights in respect of copyright, designs, circuit layouts, trade marks, trade secrets, know-how, Confidential Information, patents, invention and discoveries and all other intellectual property as defined in article 2 of the convention establishing the World Intellectual Property Organisation 1967.
Pre-existing Intellectual Property Rights means a person’s Intellectual Property Rights existing prior to submission of a Proposal or subsequently brought into existence other than in course of submitting or evaluating a Proposal under these Terms and Conditions (including any improvements, modifications or developments of such pre-existing Intellectual Property Rights).
Pitch Deck means information that substantially aligns with the criteria set out in the Pitch Deck submission section of the form that applies to these Terms and Conditions.
Proposal means the product, prototype, Pitch Deck and/or other material submitted by an Applicant, as referred to in clause 2 in these Terms and Conditions, and referenced in the remainder of these Terms and Conditions.
Related Bodies Corporate has the meaning given to that term in the Australian Corporations Act.
Site means our website at https://www.x15ventures.com.au.
Terms and Conditions means these terms and conditions as made available on x15’s Site.
x15 Material means the content on the Site and all associated Intellectual Property Rights and any material in any form, including documents, reports, feedback, products, equipment, information, data, software (in source code and object code), software tools and software development methodologies, made available by x15 or its third-party licensors for use before, during or after submission of a Proposal, and excludes Applicant Material.
© 2023 CBA New Digital Businesses Pty Ltd ABN 38 633 072 830 and Australian Credit Licence 516487, trading as x15ventures. x15ventures is a trade mark of CBA New Digital Businesses Pty Ltd. CBA New Digital Businesses Pty Ltd is a wholly owned but non-guaranteed subsidiary of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia ABN 48 123 123 124. CBA New Digital Businesses Pty Ltd is not an Authorised Deposit-taking Institution for the purposes of the Banking Act 1959 and its obligations do not represent deposits or other liabilities of Commonwealth Bank of Australia. Please refer to the venture websites for specific venture-related disclosures and other important information. Read our Privacy Policy.
© 2023 CBA New Digital Businesses Pty Ltd ABN 38 633 072 830 and Australian Credit Licence 516487, trading as x15ventures. x15ventures is a trade mark of CBA New Digital Businesses Pty Ltd. CBA New Digital Businesses Pty Ltd is a wholly owned but non-guaranteed subsidiary of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia ABN 48 123 123 124. CBA New Digital Businesses Pty Ltd is not an Authorised Deposit-taking Institution for the purposes of the Banking Act 1959 and its obligations do not represent deposits or other liabilities of Commonwealth Bank of Australia. Please refer to the venture websites for specific venture-related disclosures and other important information. Read our Privacy Policy.