Amsterdam-based fintech Duqu has raised €1.5 million in pre-seed funding from Curiosity VC and No Such Ventures. The company provides short-term advances against outstanding B2B invoices and develops AI-powered underwriting technology.

Duqu gives businesses access to money they have already earned but are still waiting to receive. The company is targeting a broader cash-flow challenge caused by delayed invoice payments. According to Duqu, Dutch businesses pay 46 per cent of their B2B invoices after the due date, leaving companies waiting for money while still needing to cover expenses such as salaries, inventory, marketing and new hires.

The platform assesses outstanding B2B invoices and, based on that assessment, advances the invoice amount to the business. Unlike factoring, businesses retain ownership of their invoices and control of their customer relationships. There is no minimum or maximum amount, and businesses pay a fee only when they use an advance. Once approved, funds are transferred within 24 hours and often within an hour.

Maas de Goede, co-founder of Duqu, said:

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.

Alongside its financing platform, Duqu has spent the past year and a half developing its proprietary AI underwriting engine, which currently automates around 95 per cent of the credit assessment process. The technology is modular and can be used outside Duqu's own platform, allowing banks, lenders and leasing companies to deploy it as a white-label solution and automatically assess applications according to their own credit policies.

The new funding will be used to further grow both parts of the business: Duqu's working capital platform and its AI-powered underwriting technology.