Karim Jouini thought he had left the startup grind behind after his expense management company Expensya found a dramatic exit in 2023.
Just a year ago, Jouini and his longtime collaborator Jihed Othmani closed what is widely believed to be among the biggest tech acquisitions on the continent, selling Expensya to Swedish firm Medius for a figure rumored to hover over $120 million.
Jouini settled into a coveted technology chief seat at Medius, steering integrations across three continents and overseeing additional acquisitions.
Yet, away from the founder’s chair, he discovered he missed the fires of building something from nothing. Watching the rapid ascent of generative AI and the slow evolution of software testing lit a fresh spark.
So now, he and Othmani have set out to tackle software’s oldest pain: slow, tedious manual testing. Their new startup, Thunder Code, is staking its bet on generative AI agents that can simulate the work of human testers, spot subtle interface flaws, and learn as they go.
The fledgling company is not even half a year old but has already raised $9 million in seed money, drawing familiar faces from their previous venture and notable new names from the technology ecosystem.
AI Brings Speed to Software Testing
Thunder Code’s chief aim is to speed up the glacial pace of traditional testing by automating processes with AI that mimics how real people explore a product, catching the types of bugs humans would, only faster and at greater scale.
Jouini is quick to point out that lessons from Expensya’s early days are shaping his approach. He insists that trading partial ownership early for access to the best minds is worth it, countering the usual caution among African founders over keeping full control.
The company shipped its first version in just six weeks, a far cry from the slower ramp at his last company. Now, Thunder Code already boasts paying customers and pilots in North America, Europe, and North Africa.
The present focus is on web applications, but the team has an ambitious roadmap to move into mobile, desktop, and API testing before the end of next year.
Jouini views the software testing market as ripe for disruption, estimating its value will soar past a hundred billion by 2027, with legacy giants like Tricentis and BrowserStack vulnerable to faster, AI-powered upstarts.
He knows they are not alone in the race, with competition everywhere from old hands to nimble new entries like Jetify and Nova. Othmani’s experience in AI, dating back to their first venture, gives them technical depth to match their ambitions.
Even former Expensya employees, flush from the acquisition, returned as investors in the new venture, adding another layer of loyalty and belief to the mix.
Jouini can hardly hide his excitement for the new chapter, convinced that this time, AI will let them build something far greater with a much leaner team.
