Duna, a startup aiming to overhaul the world of business identity verification and compliance, has secured €10.7 million in seed funding. Founded by former Stripe executives David Schreiber and Duco Van Lanschot, the company plans to use the funding to enhance its AI-powered platform and expand across Europe and beyond.
The investment round was led by Index Ventures, with backing from Puzzle Ventures and notable angel investors. These include industry leaders like Adyen’s co-founder Pieter van der Does, former Snowflake CEO Frank Slootman, and ex-Stripe COO Claire Hughes Johnson. This support underscores strong confidence in Duna’s mission: to simplify and scale Know Your Customer (KYC) and Know Your Business (KYB) processes.
Duna’s founders believe the current systems for identity verification are outdated and error-prone. “We still rely on legacy methods that result in fraud, delays, and compliance failures,” said Van Lanschot. Inspired by years at Stripe, where they dealt with complex business onboarding processes, the founders created Duna to automate and streamline these workflows.
“We generate AI art and write legal briefs with tools that didn’t exist five years ago, yet we still verify businesses with PDFs and spreadsheets,” said co-founder David Schreiber. “Duna brings that process into the modern age.”
From Stripe to Solving Identity’s “Last Mile”
Founded in 2023, Duna operates from Germany and the Netherlands. Van Lanschot previously led Stripe’s Benelux and DACH operations, while Schreiber headed multiple product teams. Their shared frustration with traditional KYB led them to create a smarter, automated platform.
Duna’s system uses AI and APIs to verify companies quickly and accurately. It removes the need for back-and-forth emails and manual data entry. One client cut onboarding time from eight days to just two hours after switching to Duna. Another saw a 38% increase in conversion rates by integrating Duna’s custom workflows.
The platform also includes liveness checks, biometric authentication, and real-time monitoring. These tools help companies stay compliant with global regulations like AMLD5/6, PSD2/3, and DAC7—without sacrificing user experience.
“With Duna, onboarding shifted from a painful bottleneck to a revenue driver,” said Plaid VP Zak Lambert.
More than just verification, Duna is building a network of trusted business identities. Think of it as a digital passport for companies. Once verified, a business can reuse its credentials across different platforms—from banks to marketplaces—without re-submitting documents every time. This network approach mirrors the convenience Stripe brought to online payments.
Building the Future of Digital Trust
The funding will allow Duna to scale its team, enhance its AI tools, and expand into new markets. Though its immediate focus is Europe, the company has global ambitions. The startup is assembling a strong team of engineers and product experts from companies like Adyen, Airbnb, and Spotify, giving it a deep bench in both tech and compliance.
Investors are optimistic about Duna’s future. “This is a €50 billion market that’s ripe for disruption,” said Jan Hammer of Index Ventures. “Duna has a top-tier team with real insight into what businesses need.”
Pieter van der Does, who now advises Duna, sees similarities between its mission and Adyen’s early days. “Duna is tackling complexity that many overlook—but every company experiences. They’re building essential infrastructure.”
With the rise of global digital transactions and tightening regulations, fast and secure business identity verification is more critical than ever. Duna offers a solution that balances regulatory demands with speed and simplicity, helping companies move faster and stay compliant.
The company’s next steps include growing its engineering and operations teams, enhancing platform features, and forming new partnerships in sectors like fintech, insurance, and e-commerce.
By creating a seamless way for businesses to verify their identities, Duna is turning compliance from a burden into a business advantage—and setting a new standard for digital trust.
