Summary:

On 7 June 2023, Sweden-based accounts-payable software provider Medius announced plans to acquire Paris-based, Tunisian-founded expense management software as a service (SaaS) provider Expensya.  The sale price was not disclosed but was rumored to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Expensya was founded in 2014 by Tunisians Karim Jouini and Jihed Othmani. While the firm was founded in Tunisia, it was eventually moved to France, with much of its 200 staff continuing to work out of an office in Tunis.

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At the time of acquisition, Expensya reportedly served over 6000 business clients, totaling approximately 700,000 users.

The Expensya acquisition comes following the major acquisition of Tunisian-run AI startup InstaDeep by German biotechnology firm BioNTech and the acquisition of Tunisian gaming startup Galactech by Egyptian firm GBarena

Outlook:  

While another encouraging story about Tunisian technical skill and innovation, the Expensya story is actually another indication of the inhospitable investment environment in Tunisia. Expensya, like other promising startups, moved its headquarters out of Tunisia in order to build in a more welcoming investment climate. InstaDeep had also moved its headquarters out of Tunisia during the process of fundraising and scaling.

While some processes are in place to encourage innovative startups in Tunisia, savvy investors continue to insist that founders headquarter their firms outside of Tunisia where the investment climate and overall political and economic situation are more stable.

Until the Tunisian government can implement meaningful reforms to encourage investment and allow organic startup growth, the country will continue to see the departure of promising founders and businesses, with Tunisia relegated to a source of affordable back-office labor.

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