€1.5m · Pre-Seed · Fintech · Amsterdam, Netherlands
Amsterdam-based Duqu has raised €1.5m in pre-seed funding led by Curiosity VC, with participation from No Such Ventures. The fintech will use the capital to grow its working-capital platform and continue developing the AI underwriting engine behind it.
Duqu gives businesses short-term advances against outstanding B2B invoices, with approved funds transferred within 24 hours. Unlike factoring, the company does not buy the invoice: the business retains ownership of the receivable and its customer relationship. Duqu charges only when an advance is used.
Automation could make smaller advances economical
Small working-capital applications can be unattractive for traditional lenders because the cost of assessing each borrower does not shrink with the ticket size. Duqu says its underwriting engine automates about 95% of the credit assessment process. If that holds as volume grows, the company can serve smaller advances while keeping manual review focused on exceptions and riskier cases.
The same engine gives Duqu a second route to market. Banks, lenders and leasing companies can deploy it as a white-label system while retaining their own credit policies. That turns underwriting from an internal operating advantage into a software product, but also raises the bar for explainability, controls and performance across lenders.
Sources checked: Curiosity VC; Tech.eu; Duqu; Tech.eu Funding Explorer.
