Affiliate revenue platform Stay22 has secured a $122 million minority growth investment from Summit Partners.
The company plans to invest in its infrastructure and partner ecosystem, expand internationally and grow its team. Stay22 noted that it is actively hiring product development, engineering and partner support talent.
Summit Partners’ Colin Mistele and Daniel Kim also joined the Stay22 board of directors as part of the investment.
Since being named a PhocusWire Hot 25 Travel Startup for 2019, Montreal-based Stay22 has expanded its affiliate monetization platform for travel creators, media publishers and event organizers, using artificial intelligence to improve booking and conversion.
“We believe Stay22 is building essential infrastructure at the intersection of travel, content and commerce,” Mistele said.
“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 rapidly and expand its global reach.”
Stay22 also said the fresh capital will help it expand to different retail verticals beyond travel, “evolving from a travel-centric solution into a foundational platform for the global creator economy.”
“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.”