**Duna Snags €30M in Funding, and It’s a Stripe Family Affair**
I’m still trying to wrap my head around this one – Duna, a German-Netherlands-based startup, has just landed a whopping €30 million in its Collection A round from CapitalG, Alphabet’s growth fund. What’s got me stoked is that several high-profile Stripe execs, including Michael Coogan, David Singleton, and Claire Hughes Johnson, are backing the company. So, what’s the big deal, you ask? Well, it’s not just the size of the investment, but the fact that this is a Stripe family affair.
Before we dive into the details, let me give you the lowdown. Duna is a company identification verification startup that helps fintech companies streamline their onboarding process, making it easier and cheaper to check IDs and prevent fraud. Plaid, a major fintech player, is already a happy customer of Duna’s tech. And here’s the thing – Duna’s co-founder, Duco van Lanschot, believes that even Stripe and Adyen won’t directly compete with the startup, as their onboarding options are too specific and complicated.
So, what’s the vision? Duna wants to create a world identification network where companies can reuse their verified identification information across multiple platforms. Think of it like a digital passport that lets you onboard with multiple companies with ease. “We want to build a world trust infrastructure that gives a digital passport for every business,” van Lanschot says. “So, you can reuse your file from onboarding on Moss to onboard with Plaid, or reuse it to open a checking account.” It’s a pretty ambitious goal, but I’m intrigued by the potential.
CapitalG’s Alex Nichols, who led the funding, is bullish on Duna’s vision, looking for network effects and scale benefits in his investments. “Duna’s the real deal,” he says. “They generate their own data, instead of trying to combine existing sources which are often incomplete.” Of course, Duna faces competition in the KYB (Know Your Business) space, but Nichols is optimistic about its prospects.
So, what’s next for Duna? The company has already proven its worth in helping fintech companies onboard business prospects faster and cheaper. But its bigger ambition – building a world identification network – will only pay off when it reaches significant scale. To get there, the team is focusing on small clusters of companies that intersect with each other, creating “patches of networks” like shared customers, investors, or countries.
It’s a small market with big opportunities, according to van Lanschot. And with 14,000 compliance staff employed by the four largest banks in the Netherlands alone, there’s a huge space for automation and revenue generation. Will it be enough to create a one-click business onboarding system? Only time will tell.
One thing is for sure, though – with this massive funding round, Duna has got the runway to take off. And with its connections to Stripe, it’ll be interesting to see how their relationship plays out.
