In 2023, Tunisian tech entrepreneurs Karim Jouini and Jihed Othmani stunned the African startup ecosystem with one of its most high-profile exits: the sale of Expensya, their expense management software startup, to Swedish procurement software firm Medius. The deal, estimated to be just over $120 million, instantly etched their names into the pantheon of Africa’s most successful tech founders.
At the time, the duo said they were done with startups.
That did not last long.
Barely a year later, they are back. This time they are riding the AI wave with a new company called Thunder Code, a generative AI-powered platform that automates software testing. And once again, they are making waves early, having already raised $9 million in seed funding just six months into the journey.
From Expensya to Thunder Code: Lessons and Lightning
If Expensya was the startup that taught them how to build a company from scratch, Thunder Code is the product of refined instinct, sharper execution, and a belief in the transformational power of generative AI.
We promised not to do another company,” Karim Jouini admits. “But it’s like when people have two kids. They forget how hard the first one was. We’re fired up. We’re convinced this is unicorn material.”
What makes Thunder Code so different is its laser focus. It automates the painful, often overlooked but critical process of quality assurance (QA) testing. Its AI agents mimic human testers to detect bugs, spot UI and UX issues, and rapidly accelerate testing cycles across web apps. Expansion into mobile and API testing is already in the pipeline.
In startup circles, this category is considered a sleeping giant. The software testing market is expected to exceed $100 billion by 2027, but it remains largely dominated by legacy platforms and slow manual processes.
Thunder Code aims to change that with lean teams, blazing speed, and AI agents that never sleep.
Execution Over Perfection
Thunder Code shipped its first MVP in week six, a pace unheard of in traditional enterprise software development. Today, it already boasts paying customers across the U.S., Canada, France, and Tunisia. The company is targeting web-first, but has revealed plans to roll out support for mobile, desktop, and API testing by the end of 2025.
Jouini’s approach the second time around is different. It is shaped by battle scars and scaled-up ambition. He is prioritising speed over perfection, and execution over extensive planning. At Expensya, it took them four years to reach the solidity Thunder Code already has in six months.
“We believe fast feedback trumps perfect plans,” he says.
He is also unapologetic about early dilution, a bold stance in an ecosystem where African founders often fear giving up equity too soon. “We’re willing to dilute for top-tier talent,” he shares. “If we create a unicorn while diluting ourselves, that’s good value.”
AI Testing, Built in Africa, Scaling Globally
While Thunder Code is incorporated as a global company, its Tunisian roots remain clear. The startup counts Janngo Africa and former Expensya investors like Silicon Badia among its backers. Strategic angels such as Roxanne Varza (Station F) and Karim Beguir (InstaDeep) have also come on board.
It is a solid validation of Thunder Code’s vision, but also a reflection of how Africa’s most successful founders are no longer building for Africa alone. They are building from Africa to the world.
Karim’s stint as CTO at Medius, post-acquisition, turned out to be fertile ground. Tasked with integrating six software companies across three continents, he saw first-hand how the software industry’s biggest bottleneck was not development. It was testing. That insight, combined with the exponential power of generative AI, seeded the Thunder Code idea.
The Big Bet
The bet is simple. AI agents can scale testing better than any outsourced QA team. Fast-moving startups need better and faster test solutions. The industry is ripe for a shake-up.
Thunder Code is placing itself at the intersection of software reliability, speed, and AI automation, a space where unicorns are born.
Whether Karim and Jihed can go two-for-two and create another billion-dollar company remains to be seen. But if early traction is anything to go by, Thunder Code might just strike gold twice.
Techsoma Africa will be watching closely. Follow us for more in-depth coverage on Africa’s rising AI and SaaS stars.
