UPAD Launches “Rakija Gate” - The First Balkan Anti-Bot Protocol - During the Most Attacked Concert On-Sale in Regional History

The fast-growing ticketing infrastructure startup activated its cultural-tech anomaly filter for the first time during Aleksandra Prijović’s New Year’s on-sale, organised by Extra FM - a launch overwhelmed by automated traffic.

ZAGREB, Croatia, Nov. 16, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- UPAD, the progressive, fintech-driven ticketing infrastructure startup, has deployed “Rakija Pit”, a culturally-coded anti-automation signal created to identify and quarantine bots during high-demand ticket launches.

Rakija Gate was activated for the first time ever during the New Year’s Eve sale for the biggest young regional singer Aleksandra Prijović, organised by Extra FM, drawing the highest complexities of bot traffic the region has ever recorded.

Within minutes, UPAD’s behaviour engine detected machine-generated purchase patterns far above normal thresholds. Instead of allowing automated sessions to compete with real fans, suspicious traffic was routed into a separate quarantine lane - an internal mechanism the engineering team calls the Rakija Pit. It's where automated sessions can dance as long as they want - but they never reach checkout. Meanwhile, real fans keep moving forward.

The name reflects a piece of shared Balkan humour:

only real humans survive rakija - automated systems don’t stand a chance.

It’s where automated sessions can dance as long as they want — but they never reach checkout. Meanwhile, real fans keep moving forward.

Behind the jokes sits a tech-forward layer of infrastructural logic more commonly found in modern fintech than in regional ticketing.

While most platforms in the EU treat bot traffic as an inevitable nuisance, UPAD is positioning Rakija Pit as part of a new integrity layer for live-event access. As Balkan markets begin mirroring global demand waves, UPAD sees infrastructural fairness as essential.

To set a new standard for transparency, UPAD will publish a public Event Digest, including anonymized metrics such as queue composition, purchase success rates, anomaly quarantines, and overall integrity scores.

“This is what artists, organisers, and fans deserve,” said M.M. “Not mystery. Not speculation. Actual numbers. Actual fairness. Actual presence.”

upad.hr

About UPAD

UPAD is a fast-growing ticketing infrastructure company building the technological backbone for fair, transparent live experiences across the Balkans and beyond. UPAD combines modern seat architecture, behaviour-scoring, and presence-tracking layers to protect artists and fans from automated interference. With a visual language inspired by minimal systems design and a philosophy built around Be Present, UPAD aims to elevate how live events are sold, measured, and experienced.

More: upad.hr

Press Contact

UPAD d.o.o.
info@upad.hr
upad.hr

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/9f1569d5-c7eb-41e6-829e-377230598c64