How Stay22 went from pandemic freefall to one of Montréal tech's biggest growth stories. After losing 90 percent of its revenue in 2020, travel tech startup secures $122-million USD investment. Montréal-based travel content monetization startup Stay22 has completed a total turnaround since losing 90 percent of its revenue in 2020. "It's a great way to finally get a tap on the back." Andrew Lockhead, Stay22 On Thursday, the 105-person startup announced it raised $122 million USD ($167 million CAD) in an all-equity, minority growth investment from private equity firm Summit Partners. Outside of $1.5 million USD, it's the only external investment the company has taken in its rollercoaster journey to profitability. "It's a great way to finally get a tap on the back," Stay22 co-founder and CEO Andrew Lockhead told BetaKit in an interview. He did not share the company's valuation or say how much of the investment consisted of secondary issuances. Stay22 was founded in 2016, after Lockhead and co-founder and chief innovation officer Hamed Al-Khabbaz joined Montréal's FounderFuel accelerator. The startup, which originally focused on affiliate revenue for booking accommodations for in-person events, was finding its stride when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, heavily impacting in-person events and tanking its income. Investors pulled out, and the company was forced to lay off two-thirds of the team. But Stay22 kept going, vowing to bootstrap instead of chasing venture dollars. It pivoted the following year to focus on helping creators monetize travel content and has since seen rapid traction, growing revenue by more than 1,000 percent by the end of 2024. The company's tech offers a way for travel publishers, bloggers, and influencers to monetize their content through affiliate links with booking sites such as Booking.com and Expedia. For example, a travel YouTuber may want to embed links to vacation options in their video description so they can earn a commission when viewers book a stay. Stay22 automates this process using AI to increase bookings and conversion rates, taking a fee and redistributing part of these higher earnings to the creator. Now, it works with more than 5,500 creators and processes more than $1 billion USD in transactions. According to a January investor memo viewed by BetaKit, Stay22's January monthly revenue was $7.2 million USD, growing 127 percent year over year. It also reached more than 800 million users, growing 178 percent year over year. Its annual recurring revenue is between $70 million and $100 million CAD, according to The Globe & Mail. Stay22 has also become somewhat of a community leader for Montréal tech, regularly sponsoring speaker events and taking home people's choice awards. Its latest investor, US-based Summit Partners, has invested in Toronto-based adtech company StackAdapt and Edmonton-based startup Jobber, as well as other companies focused on conversational AI, social media, and the influencer economy. The firm is taking two seats on Stay22's six-person board, Lockhead said. "What drew us to Stay22 is the combination of a structural market shift and a team building the infrastructure to support it," Colin Mistele, managing director at Summit Partners, said in an emailed statement to BetaKit. "We view the creator economy as a core driver of how consumers discover and purchase experiences and products, with scalable monetization tools becoming increasingly important." Lockhead said the investment was a way to get a strategic partner at the table, as Stay22 looks to expand from travel content into monetizing retail links - allowing travel creators to earn additional revenue from promoting luggage or sunscreen, for example. "We can finally unlock new opportunities for those creators," Lockhead said. Beyond its retail expansion, Lockhead said Stay22 plans more of a push into monetizing content on social media. The company is hiring for about 50 positions, in marketing, sales, and engineering roles. Feature image courtesy Stay22.

Stay22 announces USD$122 million growth investment from Summit Partners to power creator monetization at global scale. Business Wire Published Feb 26, 2026 Article content Investment supports global expansion and new vertical development as Stay22 strengthens the infrastructure connecting travel content to commerce. Article content MONTREAL - Stay22, an award-winning content monetization company helping creators, media publishers and live experience companies turn travel and retail content into commerce, today announced a USD$122 million minority growth investment from Summit Partners. The funding will support Stay22's continued global expansion, product innovation, team growth and ongoing investment in the infrastructure and partner ecosystem that connects content to commerce at scale. Article content Advertisement 1 Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content Founded and headquartered in Montreal, Stay22 is an intelligent, data-driven technology platform that helps travel creators, media publishers and event organizers (including events, ticketing and transportation providers) convert booking intent into revenue. As consumers increasingly rely on creators and other specialized content when planning travel, Stay22 provides infrastructure designed to translate engagement into relevant booking options. Powered by AI-driven decisioning, the platform analyzes real-time contextual and behavioral signals to route audiences to relevant online travel agencies (OTAs), including leading global travel brands such as Booking.com, Expedia Group and Tripadvisor, helping to improve conversion and monetization for partners. In 2025, Stay22 expanded into the retail vertical with strong early traction, delivering USD$80 million in GMV (Gross Merchandise Value). Article content Top Stories Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. Article content Industry estimates place the global creator economy at more than USD$200 billion[1], as creators and publishers increasingly influence how consumers discover and purchase travel, experiences and products. Stay22 sits at the intersection of content, commerce and travel, providing infrastructure that helps creators convert audience engagement into revenue. With this new investment, Stay22 plans to expand beyond travel into broader creator monetization infrastructure across retail verticals including food, fashion, DIY, lifestyle and consumer technology, evolving from a travel-centric solution into a foundational platform for the global creator economy. Article content "Creators and publishers now shape how people discover experiences and products, but many lack the infrastructure to monetize that influence," said Andrew Lockhead, CEO and Co-Founder of Stay22. "Stay22 was built to solve that problem. Summit's experience investing in category-leading companies across the creator economy and marketing technology stack makes them an ideal partner to help scale our platform, grow our team and expand globally." Article content Today, more than 5,500 creators use Stay22 to identify high-value affiliate opportunities that help turn content into revenue. The company works with a broad range of partners - from independent creators such as Nomadic Matt, to large-scale publishers including Time Out and Lonely Planet, to global transportation groups like the Travelier Group. Stay22 processed more than USD$1 billion in annual transactions in 2025 alone. The company's sustained growth has earned consecutive recognition from Deloitte, ranking 12th on the Technology Fast 50(TM) Canada list in 2024 and 31st in 2025, and placing No. 69 in 2024 and No. 94 in 2025 on the Deloitte Technology Fast 500(TM) North America list. Article content Advertisement 2 Story continues below Article content "We believe Stay22 is building essential infrastructure at the intersection of travel, content and commerce," said Colin Mistele, Managing Director at Summit Partners. "As creators and publishers become more central to demand generation, the need for intelligent, scalable monetization tools has become critical. Stay22's platform, team and execution stood out to us, and we're excited to support the company as it continues to grow profitably and expand its global reach." As part of this investment, Summit's Colin Mistele and Daniel Kim have joined the Stay22 Board of Directors. Article content As Stay22 enters its next phase of growth, the company has more than tripled its headcount over the past two years and is actively hiring across product development, engineering and partner support. Alongside team expansion, Stay22 plans to accelerate international growth, deepen relationships across its global supplier and partner network and continue investing in AI-powered optimization and product innovation. Article content The Raine Group served as exclusive financial advisor to Stay22 on the transaction. Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP served as legal counsel to Stay22. Choate, Hall & Stewart LLP and Dentons served as legal counsel to Summit Partners. Article content About Stay22 Article content Stay22 is a content monetization company that helps creators, publishers, and brands monetize travel intent by intelligently placing and optimizing accommodation and travel booking links within their content. Stay22 works with partners around the world to connect travelers with relevant places to stay and travel services, helping drive value for creators, audiences, and suppliers alike. In 2025, Stay22 expanded this monetization expertise into the retail vertical. For more information, please visit www.stay22.com. Article content About Summit Partners Article content Summit Partners is a leading growth-focused investment firm. Summit invests across growth sectors of the economy and, since the firm's founding in 1984, has invested in more than 550 companies in technology, healthcare and other growth industries. These companies have completed more than 175 public equity offerings, and more than 250 have been acquired through strategic mergers and sales. Notable marketing technology investments include Klaviyo, Manychat, Later and StackAdapt. Summit maintains offices in North America and Europe and seeks to invest in category-leading, profitable growth companies worldwide. For more information, please visit www.summitpartners.com or follow Summit Partners on LinkedIn. Article content | ____________________________ [1] Source: Quartermast, 2026 Creator Economy M&A Report (2026) | Article content View source version on businesswire.com: Article content Advertisement 1 Join the Conversation Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information. Conversation | All Comments Start the conversation Advertisement Powered by

Summit Partners recognized as a Top Growth Equity firm. February 11, 2026 Summit Partners has been named to GrowthCap's list of Top Growth Equity Firms of 2025, which recognizes leading growth investors based on sector expertise, analytical rigor, operational capabilities, leadership depth and enduring firm reputation, among other attributes. GrowthCap evaluated several hundred growth equity firms as part of this annual ranking. Summit Partners has invested in numerous category-defining companies across technology, healthcare, financial services, business services, consumer and other growth sectors. Built to support founders and management teams leading growth-stage businesses, Summit brings deep sector knowledge, global resources and operational insight to help companies scale and lead their markets. We are grateful to the visionary leaders, dedicated teams and exceptional companies we have the privilege to support. Awardee selections are based on GrowthCap's evaluation of each firm's unique capabilities, sector expertise, investment judgment, demonstrated value creation, senior partner composition, talent retention, firm evolution, and firm momentum, among other attributes. Information on firms was received through GrowthCap's online submissions portal, nomination forms, direct communications as well as through our additional research. To view the full list of honorees and read more about the selection methodology, visit GrowthCap's website. This award is the opinion of the party conferring the award and not of Summit Partners. The Top Growth Equity Firms of 2025, issued by GrowthCap on February 11, 2026, was based on the time period of January 2025 - December 2025. Summit Partners submitted a nomination, and once selected, paid a publishing and copyright fee to promote this award. There can be no assurance that other providers or surveys would reach the same conclusion as the party conferring the award referenced herein.