Hamed Al-Khabaz is Co-Founder and Chief Innovation Officer at Stay22, a travel technology platform that helps creators monetize travel content through AI-powered affiliate solutions. The company processes over $1 billion in transactions annually and serves more than 5,500 partners globally.

Hamed gained national attention in 2014 when he was expelled from Dawson College for exposing a security vulnerability in the school's system, which led to numerous job offers from tech companies. He previously founded Outpost Travel (also known as Zilyo), a peer-to-peer travel accommodations startup that raised $200,000 in venture capital.

Hamed is a self-taught full-stack developer who started coding at age 16, creating mods for games like Warcraft and Counter-Strike. He built the initial prototype for Stay22 to solve his own problem finding accommodations near an e-sports event in Germany, which gained traction on Reddit.

Stay22 was founded in 2016 after joining Montreal's FounderFuel accelerator and has raised $122 million from Summit Partners in 2025, following an initial $1.5 million in early funding. The company ranked 31st on Deloitte's Technology Fast 50 Canada list in 2025 with 1,008% growth over three years.

Stay22 hosts over 35 million bookable listings and has generated over $500 million in gross merchandise value, partnering with major OTAs like Booking.com, Expedia, and Tripadvisor. The platform has expanded from travel into retail monetization, delivering $80 million in retail GMV in 2025.