Larry Engel, a 20-year veteran of Microsoft, announced Friday that he's leaving the company to become chief product officer at Seattle startup Cozi. Engel most recently served as general manager of Microsoft Pinpoint, and before that held the GM title for the Microsoft Store and Marketplaces group.

Cozi CEO Robbie Cape said that Engel is a "phenomenal" executive who will help the company as it enters a new phase.

The appointment comes amid a period of rapid growth at Cozi, which has been adding new members for its family calendar, photo and planning service. Chosen earlier this month as the Consumer Product of the Year at the WTIA Industry Achievement Awards, Cozi raised $5 million from an undisclosed strategic partner and others in February.

"The amount of new opportunities in front of us has grown dramatically in the last three to four months, and we needed to put an organization in place that allowed us to scale our products," said Cape, adding that Cozi now has 2.7 million family members. Part of that growth has come through strategic partnerships with companies such as Unilver, Nestle USA and Dell. Cozi also received a strategic investment in 2008 from Gannett, publisher of USA Today and others newspapers.

Cape and Engel have a long history together. In fact, when Cape joined Microsoft as an intern in the summer of 1992 it was Engel who served as his mentor. Cape then worked under Engel for his first two years at the company.

Prior to Engel's appointment, Cozi co-founder Jan Miksovsky -- also a Microsoft veteran -- held the chief product officer title. Miksovksy will forfeit that title, though his role will remain the same. His new title has not been finalized.

Engel will oversee the product and marketing teams as the company consolidates those groups, which Cape said represents a new management structure for the company.

Cozi now employs 25 people, with three open positions at the moment. Cape said that the company plans to invest in the business this year in order to take advantage of new opportunities that are piling up.

"My number one goal is to maximize the value of the company, as opposed to get the company to profitability as soon as possible," said Cape. "We still have quite a bit of cash in the bank, so driving hard to profitability is not necessarily the number one goal right now."