Expensya Founders Debut Thunder Code, AI Software Testing Platform, with $9M Seed
Karim Jouini and Jihed Othmani, the founders behind Expensya, one of Africa’s most successful startups, are back in the game with a new venture: Thunder Code, a generative AI-powered software testing platform. Less than six months old, the Paris- and Tunis-based startup has already raised $9 million in seed funding, with backing from Silicon Badia, Jaango Capital, Titan Seed Fund, and angel investors like Roxanne Varza and Karim Beguir of InstaDeep.
Their previous startup, Expensya, was acquired in 2023 by Swedish firm Medius in a deal rumored to exceed $120 million. Although both co-founders initially ruled out starting another company, Jouini’s role as CTO at Medius reignited his passion, especially after realizing the universal bottleneck of software testing.
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AI Agents Tackle Testing with Speed and Scale
Thunder Code leverages AI agents to simulate QA testers, identifying subtle UI/UX issues, learning from feedback, and accelerating product cycles. Their minimum viable product (MVP) launched within six weeks and has already matured faster than Expensya did in four years, according to Jouini.
Early traction includes paying clients and pilots in the U.S., Canada, France, and Tunisia. The startup currently targets web app testing, with plans to expand into mobile, desktop, and API testing by late 2025.
A Leaner, Faster Approach to Startup Building
Jouini emphasized lessons learned: hire top talent early, focus on core features, and embrace calculated equity dilution. “We’re building a unicorn faster and leaner,” he said. Thunder Code enters a $100B+ testing market still dominated by legacy tools—offering a nimble, AI-first alternative poised to scale.
