Stay22, the Montreal-based travel tech company that offers affiliate revenue generation opportunities for travel bloggers and media, today confirms that it has been ranked 69th on Deloitte Technology Fast 500 North America List published in November.
This recognition has been awarded in part due to the company’s remarkable growth of over 4,000% in sales volume since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Having transformed from a startup to a thriving scale-up in just four years, Stay22 now aims to double the Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) of sales – travel bookings made via the affiliate travel bloggers and media that use the platform – to exceed $500 million in 2024, up from just $12m in 2020.
In addition Stay22 has expanded its team to over 60 members – up from roughly 37 in 2023 – primarily in its home town of Montreal.
Andrew Lockhead, CEO and co-founder of Stay22, shared his reflections on the company’s journey: “To think that in just a few years, we pivoted and rebuilt our business in a way we could never have imagined. COVID nearly forced us to shut down, but victory was stolen from the jaws of defeat by doubling down on innovation. I hope our story inspires other entrepreneurs not to give up.
“Our dedication to helping travel bloggers and travel content creators such as media platforms to help them monetise their hard work through affiliate links attracts us more and more users every single month. Meanwhile travel providers looking for unique and more profitable routes to reaching travellers than Google Adwords, gain great value and place more confidence in our network to deliver every month too.
“Watch this space as we make further updates during 2025, including potentially acquiring companies and blasting through our 2024 numbers.”
During COVID Stay22 launched “Let Me Allez”, an AI-powered tool that reshaped the affiliate marketing landscape for travel content creators. This innovation leverages AI and machine learning to connect bloggers and media outlets with travel vendor affiliate programs, offering high-margin bookings to vendors like Booking.com and Expedia while enabling content creators to monetize effortlessly.
This year Stay22’s rapid expansion and commitment to innovation earned it notable industry accolades, including:
- Entrepreneur of the Year Nomination: Celebrating the visionary leadership of CEO Andrew Lockhead.
- Deloitte Fast 50 Winner: Ranked 12th, highlighting Stay22’s status among Canada’s fastest-growing companies.
- Deloitte Fast 500 Winner: Ranked 69th in North America for its dynamic growth and performance.
- Canadian Rocketship Award: Consolidating Stay22’s position as a leading Canadian company.
- Montreal Startup Community Award: Acknowledging Stay22’s impact and dedication to the Montreal startup ecosystem.
