Amsterdam-based fintech Duqu has raised €1.5 million in a pre-seed funding round backed by Curiosity VC and No Such Ventures. The company helps businesses access money they have already earned but have not yet received from outstanding B2B invoices. The new capital will support the expansion of both its invoice advance platform and its AI-driven underwriting technology.
A Persistent Late Payment Challenge
Duqu is addressing a structural cash-flow gap created by delayed invoice payments. According to the company, Dutch businesses pay 46 percent of their B2B invoices after the due date, leaving otherwise healthy firms waiting for money they are owed. The idea originated after co-founder Maas de Goede was approached by an entrepreneur who needed a loan while waiting on a customer payment.
How the Platform Works
Duqu assesses outstanding B2B invoices and advances the invoice amount directly to the business. This model differs from factoring because businesses retain ownership of their invoices and full control of their customer relationships. There is no minimum or maximum advance amount, a fee is charged only when an advance is used, and funds can be transferred within 24 hours, often within an hour.
AI Underwriting as a Core Advantage
The company has spent the past year and a half building a proprietary AI underwriting engine that automates about 95 percent of the credit assessment process. The technology is modular and can be used outside Duqu's own platform by banks, lenders and leasing companies. They can deploy it as a white-label solution to automatically assess applications according to their own credit policies.
Early Traction and Investor Perspective
Duqu reports that in its first three months since going live, it processed more than €4 million in applications and provided over €1 million in advances. Investor Herman Kienhuis of Curiosity said small applications are relatively expensive for traditional lenders to assess and process. Duqu's fully AI-driven credit assessment and processing stack makes it possible to better serve businesses with smaller credit or working capital needs.
A White-Label Opportunity Beyond Invoices
Thijn van Helvoirt of No Such Ventures noted that credit assessment remains labour-intensive for many providers, meaning more applications often require more staff. He added that Duqu automates a large part of the process while allowing lenders to retain their own credit policies. The same technology could be applied to leasing, mortgages and buy now, pay later.
What the New Funding Will Support
The pre-seed investment will be used to grow both parts of the business. Duqu plans to further develop its direct invoice advance platform and expand its white-label credit assessment engine for external lenders. The dual model gives the company two distinct paths to scale and enables it to serve a broader credit market.
Late B2B payments are a persistent problem across European markets, not just the Netherlands. Duqu's ability to underwrite smaller advances profitably through AI automation is the core testable claim behind its business model. If the credit-risk performance of its underwriting engine proves reliable over time, the company could build a durable lending business while also supplying technology to a much wider range of financial providers.