An Australian-born company using AI to engage scammers has secured second place at one of the startup industry’s most prominent competitions. Apate.ai finished as runner-up in Startup Battlefield at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 in San Francisco, bringing international recognition to co-founder Brad Joffe and fellow co-founders Dali Kaafar and Peter Eckermann.
The company progressed through the 20-startup pitching competition to reach the final five. Intero Biosystems took the top prize, with Apate securing the other named placing in TechCrunch’s results announcement. techcrunch.com
The result comes as Apate expands internationally following fresh funding, while retaining its technology and research teams in Sydney. It puts an Australian-developed approach to scam disruption in front of a global audience of investors, technology leaders, and potential customers.
Turning Scam Attempts Into Intelligence
Apate’s technology puts conversational AI agents into direct contact with fraudsters.
The agents pose as potential victims, keeping scammers engaged while gathering information about their activities. The objective extends beyond consuming a criminal’s time: each exchange can expose details that help institutions understand the operation behind a scam.
According to Apate, its platform can capture bank account details, cryptocurrency wallet addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses, and information about impersonated brands. Customers receive intelligence through dashboards, alerts, and analysis designed to support their response to emerging threats.
The company serves sectors including telecommunications, financial services, and government. Its proposition is to turn conversations with scammers into information that organizations can investigate and act on. apate.ai
Brad Joffe and the Team Behind Apate
Apate’s founding team comprises Brad Joffe, CEO Dali Kaafar, and Peter Eckermann. The business grew from research at Macquarie University in Sydney, connecting conversational AI with the practical demands of fraud intelligence.
Early investor OIF Ventures lists the company as founded in 2024 and first backed by the firm in 2025. It describes Apate’s technology as gathering insight into scammers’ tactics, infrastructure, and impersonation methods while disrupting their use of time and resources. www.oifventures.com.au
For Joffe and his fellow co-founders, the TechCrunch result adds a significant competition achievement to the company’s development. It also brings attention to the broader team building the platform and supporting its deployment.
Funding Supports International Expansion
The recognition follows an August seed round of US$8.15 million, approximately A$11.4 million.
Lobby Capital led the investment, with participation from OIF Ventures, Investible, Concept Ventures, and Baobab Ventures. The capital was raised to support international expansion and further development of the platform.
Startup Daily reported that Apate had incorporated in the United States, with Eckermann set to relocate to lead its North American expansion. A London office was also planned, while its technology and research teams would remain in Sydney.
The publication identified Commonwealth Bank as a customer using Apate to engage scammers and collect intelligence. www.startupdaily.net
That customer context gives the competition result a practical dimension. Apate is developing its business around institutional use of the technology, alongside the visibility generated by its international pitching success.
Why the Technology Is Attracting Attention
Scam activity crosses organizational boundaries. A single operation may involve an impersonated brand, a communications channel, and a destination for stolen funds.
Information gathered during an interaction can therefore be relevant to different teams. Financial institutions may investigate payment destinations, while telecommunications providers may examine numbers or infrastructure associated with fraudulent activity.
Apate’s approach seeks to gather those details through controlled conversations with scammers. The usefulness of that intelligence depends on its accuracy, timeliness, and connection to the systems customers use to investigate and disrupt fraud.
The company also featured in an October 10 WIRED report examining AI tools used against cybercriminals. The coverage described Apate’s bots engaging phone scammers and collecting information, placing its work within a wider development in AI-assisted cyber defence. www.wired.com
A Global Stage With Established Technology Alumni
TechCrunch’s events have provided early exposure to companies that later became major technology businesses.
Cloudflare launched publicly at TechCrunch Disrupt in September 2010. Trello also launched at Disrupt in San Francisco before its later acquisition by Atlassian. blog.cloudflare.com
Those histories help explain the attention surrounding the event. Participation takes different forms, including product launches, finalist appearances, and competition wins, but the stage has repeatedly connected emerging companies with influential technology audiences.
Apate’s second-place finish gives it a place in that competition history as it develops its international customer base.
An Australian Result With International Relevance
Apate’s achievement combines a clear competition result with a business addressing a problem that extends well beyond Australia.
For Brad Joffe and the Apate team, the next phase builds on funding, institutional adoption, and overseas expansion already underway. The technology and research work continuing in Sydney remains part of that international effort.
Its second-place finish at TechCrunch Disrupt is a notable result for the company and Australian technology. The platform’s longer-term impact will be demonstrated through the intelligence it delivers and the actions that information enables customers to take against scams.