In under six months, Thunder Code — a generative AI-powered software testing startup founded by Expensya alumni Karim Jouini and Jihed Othmani — has raised $9 million in seed funding, a significant amount even by global standards for a company at such an early stage. The funding round was backed by a mix of institutional and strategic investors, many of whom were familiar with the founders from their previous venture. Notable names include Silicon Badia, Jaango Capital, and Titan Seed Fund, alongside prominent angel investors like Roxanne Varza (Director, Station F) and Karim Beguir (CEO, InstaDeep), one of Africa’s leading AI figures. Interestingly, several former Expensya employees who profited from the company’s acquisition have also reinvested into Thunder Code — a rare show of confidence from insiders who’ve worked closely with the founders.
The intended use of the capital is targeted and urgent: rapid product development, aggressive market expansion, and recruitment of elite talent. Thunder Code has already gone to market with a minimum viable product, launched six weeks into development, and is now live with pilot programs and paying clients in the U.S., Canada, France, and Tunisia. The product focuses on using generative AI “agents” to replace slow, manual quality assurance (QA) testing processes, particularly for web applications. The roadmap includes expansion into mobile, desktop, and API testing by late 2025 — all part of a push to dominate a market expected to surpass $100 billion in value by 2027.
Jouini has been explicit about avoiding the mistakes of his previous startup. Speed to market, hiring top talent regardless of dilution, and focus on core utility are central tenets of Thunder Code’s early operations. His conviction is rooted in both hard-won experience and the belief that AI can multiply value creation with smaller, leaner teams. With a global software testing market still dominated by slow-moving legacy platforms like Tricentis and BrowserStack, Thunder Code is positioning itself as an agile challenger able to outpace incumbents through generative AI.
Why Investors Bet on Thunder Code
The track record of Karim Jouini and Jihed Othmani is undeniably compelling. The duo led Expensya from a scrappy expense management startup into one of Africa’s most successful tech exits, reportedly fetching over $120 million in a 2023 acquisition by Swedish software giant Medius. That track record alone dramatically de-risks the founding team. Investors aren’t betting on unproven entrepreneurs — they are backing seasoned operators who have already navigated complex scaling, M&A, and global expansion.
Again, the product-market fit for Thunder Code is emerging from a universal pain point across tech: the inefficiencies of QA testing. Software testing remains one of the most time-consuming and error-prone aspects of development cycles, often delaying deployment. The idea of replacing human testers with generative AI agents capable of simulating QA workflows and learning over time represents a strong automation thesis that is both timely and scalable.
Moreover, the TAM (Total Addressable Market) is enormous and underserved by innovation. The global software testing market is projected to exceed $100 billion in value by 2027. Most of that market is still served by outdated platforms that rely on cumbersome scripting, lacking the agility and learning capacity of AI-driven tools. Thunder Code’s early-mover advantage in this subsegment of “agentic AI” testing puts it in a position to shape category-defining standards, particularly for web and mobile application testing.
Also central to the investor calculus is the complementary skill set of the founding team. While Jouini has deep operational and go-to-market expertise, Othmani brings a strong technical background in AI, having built internal AI tools at Expensya long before the generative AI wave took off. This gives Thunder Code a dual foundation of visionary execution and robust technical development — a rare blend in early-stage startups.
Investor confidence is also reinforced by early traction. In just six months, Thunder Code has moved from concept to real revenue with customers across multiple geographies. That sort of velocity typically correlates with long-term momentum and presents a compelling ROI narrative for seed-stage backers.
A Closer Look at Thunder Code
Thunder Code was launched in late 2023 by Karim Jouini and Jihed Othmani, a Tunisian-French founder duo with a proven history in enterprise SaaS. The company is headquartered in Paris, with a secondary office in Tunis, reflecting its dual European and North African DNA. Despite being less than a year old, the startup is already punching above its weight, with an ambitious vision and a working product deployed across four countries.
The idea behind Thunder Code emerged while Jouini was serving as CTO at Medius, overseeing integration across six acquired software companies. It was there he saw a universal bottleneck: testing software is consistently slow, manual, and costly. The realization became the seed of Thunder Code — an AI-powered platform using autonomous agents to replicate human QA testers. These agents detect subtle UI and UX issues, adapt through user feedback, and ultimately reduce the time and cost of software release cycles.
The company’s initial focus is on web app testing, but expansion into mobile, desktop, and API testing is on the horizon. Thunder Code sells primarily to delivery managers, QA teams, and developer groups frustrated by the limitations of current platforms. Its pitch is simple but powerful: accelerate testing, improve accuracy, and ship faster — all using leaner, AI-driven infrastructure.
What also sets Thunder Code apart is its clear-eyed approach to capital and talent. Unlike many African founders who fear early dilution, Jouini embraces it as a tradeoff for hiring world-class engineers and operators. His view is that a smaller slice of a billion-dollar company is a better outcome than full ownership of a stalled venture.
The company’s longer-term strategy involves leveraging AI to 10x developer productivity and consolidate market share in what is still a highly fragmented testing space. Competitors range from legacy vendors to younger startups like Jetify and Nova AI. But Thunder Code’s pace of execution, plus the experience of its founding team, make it a formidable entrant in this rapidly evolving domain.
In sum, Thunder Code is not just a comeback story — it’s a high-conviction, high-velocity startup built on hard lessons, strategic clarity, and a sharp understanding of where generative AI can deliver meaningful disruption.