Generative AI startup Thunder Code, founded by the successful duo behind the $120m+ exit of Expensya, has rebranded to Thunders Ai. The change comes just three months after the company announced a $9m seed round and reflects an early lesson in startup branding: a technical name can be a barrier to a product built for simplicity.
In a public announcement, CEO Karim Jouini explained that the original name carried “unintended baggage.” He stated, “It sounded technical, complex, code-heavy. But our platform has always been the opposite: intelligent automation that removes complexity and works for every role in software delivery.”
The new name, Thunders, is intended to better represent the company’s mission to “democratize AI testing” for a wide range of professionals, including product managers, QA engineers, and business stakeholders, not just developers. “This isn’t just a name change. It’s a clear statement of our mission,” Jouini added.
A High-Velocity Pivot
Founded in late 2023 by Karim Jouini and Jihed Othmani, Thunders is tackling the notoriously slow and manual process of software quality assurance (QA). The platform uses autonomous AI “agents” to test web applications, promising to accelerate software delivery cycles.
The company has moved at a rapid pace. It secured its $9m seed funding in June from investors including Silicon Badia, Jaango Capital, and prominent angels like Station F director Roxanne Varza and InstaDeep CEO Karim Beguir. With an MVP launched just six weeks into development, the startup already has paying clients across the US, Canada, France, and Tunisia.
This swift rebranding appears to be part of the founders’ playbook of learning from past experience. Jouini has been vocal about applying lessons from his time building Expensya, focusing on speed to market and decisive action. By addressing the branding friction early, the company avoids the costlier and more disruptive process of changing its identity after establishing significant market presence.
The Name Game
The challenge of outgrowing a name is a common pitfall in the tech world. Startups often begin with a name that resonates with an initial niche audience, only to find it limiting as they scale or expand their product’s appeal.
This issue is seen globally. In Africa’s fast-growing tech ecosystem, for instance, mobility startup Plentywaka rebranded to Treepz after discovering its original name had different, and sometimes unrelated, cultural connotations across the continent. Similarly, other companies have been forced to rebrand due to trademark conflicts or a desire to appeal to a more international audience.
In the case of Thunders, the challenge was not geographic or cultural but one of user persona. The name “Thunder Code” risked alienating the very non-technical users the platform is designed to empower with its “zero-config” and “no-code” approach.
What’s Next for Thunders?
Alongside the new name, the company has launched a redesigned website and has opened its platform to the public, removing its previous waitlist.
With fresh capital and a clearer brand identity, Thunders is positioning itself as an agile challenger to legacy players in the software testing market, a sector projected to surpass $100bn by 2027. The company’s roadmap includes expanding its AI testing agents to cover mobile, desktop, and API testing by late 2025, aiming to become a comprehensive, AI-native alternative for modern software teams.