Apate.AI, the world’s first autonomous fraud counter-intelligence platform, developer of adversarial conversational AI agents that infiltrate and disrupt scam networks, has closed an over-subscribed US$8.15m seed funding round.
The raise was led by Lobby Capital, with backing from OIF Ventures, Investible, Concept Ventures and Baobab Ventures. Alongside the funding, Apate has reincorporated in the US as a Delaware corporation, a move that took effect on 25 August 2026 and is designed to support the firm’s continued global expansion.
Apate noted that global scam losses have now reached an estimated US$1.03trn, and despite billions of dollars being poured into detection and blocking tools by banks, telecoms providers and governments, losses continue to climb as fraud operations become industrialised and increasingly powered by AI.
Rather than waiting to catch fraud after the fact, Apate’s platform inserts itself directly into scam operations. Its voice and text-based agents are built to convincingly imitate real victims, holding conversations with fraudsters that can stretch up to two hours, tying up attackers’ time and resources while quietly harvesting intelligence that can be used to shut their operations down before a scam is completed.
Through these engagements, the platform pulls out actionable details that institutions would otherwise have no visibility into, including impersonation methods, phishing links, and mule accounts used across banking and digital asset rails. Each conversation adds to a growing intelligence library that Apate says continually sharpens its agents’ effectiveness against new scammers, forming what it describes as a unique dataset underpinning its investigation and disruption tools.
The technology is already deployed with major institutional clients, among them Commonwealth Bank of Australia, and Apate reports it has carried out more than 2.5 million autonomous conversations with threat actors, yielding upwards of 250,000 pieces of intelligence that have been fed directly into customers’ fraud disruption processes.
The company also points to a shifting regulatory backdrop as a driver of demand, citing Australia’s Scam Prevention Framework, the UK’s reimbursement rules and the EU’s PSD3 as measures that are turning scam prevention into a balance-sheet responsibility for institutions rather than simply a reputational concern.
With the fresh capital, Apate plans to deepen its product offering and grow its international footprint. A new London office is due to open next quarter to serve European clients, while its US operations will be scaled up to meet rising interest from telecoms companies, financial institutions and government bodies.
Co-founder and chief product officer Peter Eckermann is relocating to the US to head up that push across North America, while the company’s technology and research staff will continue to be based in Sydney.
Apate.AI founder and CEO Prof. Dali Kaafar said, ““For the first time, the people defending against fraud can get ahead of it. Our agents engage scammers directly, waste their time and money, and turn their tactics into intelligence that protects the people they target. This round takes that to institutions and their customers worldwide.”
Lobby Capital founding and general partner Buddy Arnheim said, “Scammers around the globe are increasingly sophisticated, and proliferating exponentially as they embrace AI. As a result, the number of victims and the related losses are accelerating. The proprietary and pioneering Apate solution is combatting this with a proactive approach that is showing unparalleled results, and they are just getting started. We are thrilled to back a team with such unique technical expertise and a compelling market leadership position. At Lobby Capital, we seek opportunities to back some of the most impactful businesses, and Apate perfectly aligns with our investment thesis: doing good while also doing well.”
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