Joost Ouwerkerk is a co-founder and the chief technology officer of Hopper, the Montreal travel company. Before Hopper he was an executive at Expedia Group, as was his co-founder Frederic Lalonde.
The two started Hopper in April 2007. It began as a tool for planning where to go and what to do, not as the airfare app it became. The product launched in 2014, and in 2015 the company released an app that predicted flight prices and told travellers when to buy.
Hotel booking followed in 2017. In 2019 the company added fintech features and bought GDX Travel. In 2021 it launched Hopper Technology Solutions for business customers and reached unicorn status. In February 2022 it was valued at $5bn.
Hopper took funding from OMERS, Atlas Venture, Capital One and GPI Capital. In July 2026 it agreed to pay $35m to settle FTC allegations over fees and deceptive claims.