Amsterdam-based Duqu raises €1.5 million to unlock cash tied up in unpaid invoices

Duqu, an Amsterdam-based FinTech startup that gives businesses immediate access to money tied up in outstanding invoices, has raised €1.5 million in a pre-Seed round from Curiosity VC and No Such Ventures.

The company has also developed its own AI underwriting engine, automating 95% of the credit assessment process. It also offers the technology as a white-label solution to banks, lenders and leasing companies. The Dutch startup plans to use this capital to grow both parts of the business.

“Businesses can arrange almost everything instantly today, yet after completing the work they can still wait weeks to get paid. That no longer matches the pace at which businesses operate. Growth cannot wait for an invoice to be paid,” said Duqu co-founder Maas de Goede.

Founded in October 2025 by de Goede, Victor Brouwer, and Diederik Nassenstein, Duqu states that, through its platform, businesses can apply for a short-term advance without selling their invoices and without a minimum or maximum amount.

The company highlighted that nearly half (47%) of B2B invoices in Western Europe are overdue. It notes that this means money businesses have already earned can stay tied up for weeks, while expenses such as employee salaries, inventory investment, marketing, or a new hire cannot wait.

Duqu claims to solve this with a short-term advance, giving businesses access to funds tied up in an outstanding invoice as soon as the invoice is issued. It assesses outstanding B2B invoices and, based on that assessment, advances the invoice amount to the business.

The company notes that unlike factoring, businesses do not sell their invoices and retain control of the customer relationship. There is no minimum or maximum amount, and businesses pay a fee only when they use an advance. Once approved, the money is transferred within 24 hours, and often within an hour.

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.

Duqu has been building its proprietary AI underwriting engine for the past year and a half, currently automating around 95% of the credit assessment process. The technology is modular and can also be deployed outside Duqu’s own platform. Lenders can use the engine as a white-label solution to automatically assess applications in line with their own credit policies. 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.”

The platform currently has almost 1,500 users and has processed €4.6 million in applications since launch, of which more than €1.2 million has been advanced.