In 2023, co-founders Karim Jouini and Jihed Othmani bought their expense control startup Expensya to Swedish procurement instrument company Medius in what’s extensively thought to be to be one of the largest acquisitions of an African startup. Some resources say the sum was just over $120 million, even though deal phrases weren’t disclosed.
Good fortune completed, each founders swore off entrepreneurship, by no means desiring to do any other startup once more and Jouini changed into a CTO position within the merged instrument corporate, with different acquisitions spanning three continents.
However the pull of a brand new technological wave – generative AI – and the idea that they can construct one thing even larger with them have drawn them again in.
The 2 have now co-founded Thunder Code, a generative AI-powered instrument checking out platform, which has already secured $9 million in seed investment, they informed TechCrunch.
“It’s lovely loopy as a result of we promised to not do any other corporate as a result of Expensya used to be too laborious,” Jouini informed TechCrunch. “However I feel it’s like when folks have two youngsters, they disregard how laborious the primary one used to be. This new mission is not up to six months outdated and already tremendous intense, however we’re fired up. We’re satisfied that is unicorn subject material.”
Jouini says his transition into head of generation at Medius reignited a spark he neglected after years as Expensya’s frontman. As he oversaw the combination of six corporations throughout 3 continents, he noticed firsthand how generative AI may just reshape the instrument business. Trying out used to be a common downside, regardless of the product, a realization that seeded the theory for Thunder Code.
Thunder Code tackles sluggish, handbook checking out with AI-powered “brokers” that mimic human testers. Those brokers simulate QA processes, catch delicate UI and UX problems, and be told from comments.
Decided to steer clear of Expensya’s early missteps, Jouini prioritized velocity. “We shipped our first MVP in week six, and now the product is a lot more cast six months in than Expensya used to be in 12 months 4,” he stated. This displays a extensively held trust in startup land that speedy comments trumps absolute best plans.
Thunder Code is already gaining traction, with paying shoppers and pilot techniques around the U.S., Canada, France, and Tunisia. The corporate companions with supply managers, QA retail outlets, and developer groups keen to check and send sooner. Its present center of attention is internet utility checking out, with plans to amplify into cell, desktop, and API checking out by way of overdue 2025.

Along with velocity, Jouini’s 2d rodeo additionally applies different hard earned classes from Expensya, like that specialize in core options and getting the most productive skill once conceivable. He’s unapologetic about early dilution, because it pertains to making an investment in most sensible skill. “Numerous African marketers are scared to dilute capital as a result of they wish to stay 100%. We imagine that if we create a unicorn whilst diluting ourselves, that’s just right price,” he remarked.
Jouini believes, alternatively, that AI will let Thunder Code generate 10 instances the worth with fewer folks, echoing the wider sentiment shift towards leaner AI-powered groups.
However, Jouini admits the leap from expense control to instrument developer equipment used to be a jump regardless of the ache issues feeling acquainted. But, he sees instrument checking out as a larger, extra advanced marketplace, projected to exceed $100 billion by 2027, nonetheless ruled by way of legacy code-based platforms like Tricentis and BrowserStack, that can be sluggish to conform. He believes Thunder Code’s speedy execution with AI offers it an edge even in opposition to equivalent new agentic merchandise.
Thunder Code, headquartered in Paris with an workplace in Tunis, joins an more and more crowded marketplace of startups all making an attempt to do similar with entrants ranged from UIPath to startups like Jetify, Nova AI.
It is helping that his co-founder, Othmani, brings deep experience in generative AI, having constructed interior AI equipment at Expensya years earlier than ChatGPT made waves. Their complementary abilities and the $9 million raised in six months place Thunder Code to transport speedy and seize marketplace proportion, Jouini stated.
The investment spherical contains acquainted faces from Expensya’s cap desk, together with Silicon Badia and Jaango Capital, along side Titan Seed Fund and strategic angels like Roxanne Varza (Director of Station F) and Karim Beguir, CEO of Instadeep, Africa’s biggest AI startup. Former and present Expensya workers who cashed out during the acquisition have additionally invested. “A few of our buyers are if truth be told Expensya workers and I’m happy it labored out that means,” stated Jouini.
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