Duqu raises €1.5M pre-Seed for AI invoice
Amsterdam fintech Duqu has secured €1.5 million in pre-Seed funding to scale its AI-powered platform that provides instant advances on unpaid B2B invoices
Duqu, an Amsterdam-based FinTech startup founded in October 2025 by Maas de Goede, Victor Brouwer, and Diederik Nassenstein, has raised €1.5 million in a pre-Seed round. The funding was led by Curiosity VC and No Such Ventures and will fuel the growth of its AI-driven invoice advance platform, which tackles a market where 47% of B2B invoices are overdue.
Technology and product differentiation
Duqu's core offering is a proprietary AI underwriting engine developed over the past year and a half. The technology automates approximately 95% of the credit assessment process. It allows businesses to apply for a short-term advance on outstanding invoices without selling them, a key difference from traditional factoring. This means companies retain full control of customer relationships and debt collection.
There is no minimum or maximum amount for an advance, and businesses pay a fee only when they use the service. Once approved, funds are transferred within 24 hours, often in under an hour. The platform is also modular and designed for white-label deployment. Commercial banks, alternative lenders, and leasing institutions can use the engine under their own brand while applying their specific credit policies.
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Credit assessment automation | ~95% |
| Development time for AI engine | 1.5 years |
| Payout time after approval | Within 24 hours, often <1 hour |
| Advance amount limits | No minimum or maximum |
| Current active business clients | Nearly 1,500 |
| Total capital advanced directly | Over €1.2 million |
Market traction and investor rationale
Since its launch, Duqu has processed €4.6 million in total invoice financing requests. Of that, it has advanced more than €1.2 million to its nearly 1,500 active business clients. Investors highlighted the platform's efficiency in handling transactions that are typically costly for established players. Herman Kienhuis of Curiosity VC noted the problem Duqu solves. "Small applications are relatively expensive for traditional lenders to assess and process," he said.
Thijn van Helvoirt of No Such Ventures pointed out that credit assessment remains labour-intensive for many providers, a gap Duqu's automation fills while letting lenders keep their own credit rules.
Founder vision and broader applications
The technology's design looks beyond immediate invoice financing. Thijn van Helvoirt of No Such Ventures stated the same modular AI engine can be adapted for other credit products like leasing, mortgages, and buy now, pay later services. This shows the long-term vision for Duqu's underlying infrastructure.
Duqu plans to use the newly secured capital to grow both its core platform and its white-label technology businesses.
