Amsterdam-based FinTech startup Duqu has raised €1.5 million in a pre-Seed funding round. The round was backed by Curiosity VC and No Such Ventures. Duqu helps businesses get quick access to money that is stuck in unpaid invoices.
Duqu has built its own AI underwriting engine to make credit assessments faster and easier. The technology automates around 95% of the credit assessment process. The company also offers this technology as a white-label solution to banks, lenders and leasing companies.
Duqu plans to use the new funding to grow both sides of its business. The company aims to expand its invoice financing service while also developing its AI underwriting technology for financial institutions.
Duqu was founded in October 2025 by de Goede, Victor Brouwer, and Diederik Nassenstein. Through its platform, businesses can apply for a short-term cash advance without selling their invoices. There is also no minimum or maximum amount required.
Duqu points out that around 47% of B2B invoices in Western Europe are overdue. As a result, businesses can wait weeks to receive money they have already earned. At the same time, they still need to pay for things like employee salaries, inventory, marketing and new hires.
Duqu aims to help businesses get access to this money sooner. When a B2B invoice is issued, the company assesses the outstanding invoice and determines whether it qualifies for an advance.
Based on its assessment, Duqu advances the invoice amount to the business, giving companies quicker access to funds while they wait for their customers to pay. This can help businesses manage their cash flow without having to sell their invoices.
According to investor Curiosity, Duqu’s technology enables profitable processing of smaller credit applications. “Small applications are relatively expensive for traditional lenders to assess and process. Duqu has built a fully AI-driven credit assessment and processing stack. As a result, businesses with smaller credit or working capital needs can be better served,” said Herman Kienhuis of Curiosity.
Thijn van Helvoirt of No Such Ventures said, “Credit assessment is still a labour-intensive process for many providers. As a result, processing more applications often means hiring more people. Duqu automates a large part of that process while allowing lenders to retain their own credit policies. The same technology can also be applied to areas such as leasing, mortgages and buy now, pay later. This means that alongside its solution for businesses, Duqu is building technology that can be applied across a much broader part of the credit market.”
Duqu has spent the past 18 months developing its own AI underwriting engine. The technology now automates around 95% of the credit assessment process, helping make loan and financing decisions faster.
The technology is modular, so it can also be used outside Duqu’s own platform. Banks, lenders and other financial companies can use the engine as a white-label solution to automatically assess applications based on their own credit policies.
