Key Points
- Dakota Smith, Hopper co-founder and CEO of Hopper Technology Solutions, has left the company; Smith said in 2025 that HTS generated 90% of Hopper’s revenue.
- Sources told Skift the dual-CEO structure was hard to navigate, with one investor saying Lalonde’s deeper involvement in HTS created “too many cooks in the kitchen.”
- The exit follows Capital One’s April 2026 purchase of the technology behind Capital One Travel, along with supplier relationships and roughly 150 Hopper employees.
Summary
Hopper co-founder Dakota Smith said on LinkedIn this week that he has left the Montreal-based company after three years running Hopper Technology Solutions, the B2B unit he said in 2025 generated 90% of Hopper’s revenue. HTS powers travel booking and rewards for partners including Uber, Expedia, RBC, and, as of this week, Aven Hospitality. Smith gave no reason for leaving, and Hopper did not respond to Skift’s request for comment. A travel tech investor told Skift that CEO Fred Lalonde recently became more engaged in HTS, leaving “too many cooks in the kitchen,” while another source close to the company said the two-CEO structure was difficult to navigate. A third source, a top executive at a B2B company, said the exit is a blow to HTS because the business runs on trust and relationships. The departure follows a turbulent year for Hopper’s partnership model: Capital One bought the technology behind Capital One Travel in April 2026, took over supplier relationships, and hired about 150 Hopper employees, while weeks earlier Hopper won RBC’s travel and rewards portal from Expedia. At least three Hopper employees said on LinkedIn this week that they left the company.