Len Covello, a lifelong entrepreneur who started his first technology company at the age of 18, continues to be fueled by his passion for creating web-based applications to help companies make data-driven decisions that benefit both a business and their customers.
Prior to his current role as chief technology officer at Engage People, Len co-founded Toronto-based AI company, Atomic Reach, a content curation platform designed to support enterprise marketers who struggle to keep up with the demand for fresh content. Under his leadership, Atomic Reach built a robust and reliable proprietary AI-powered optimization engine that some of the largest and most successful companies in the world base their marketing content on. Len went on to successfully raise more than $10M through a series of fundraising rounds. The platform also received funding from the MaRS Business Accelerator program, a program that provides support and funding for the development of regional innovation ecosystems across Ontario.
Today, Len leads the long-term vision of global tech company Engage People where he is charged with helping to redefine the value of loyalty reward points by creating an entirely new ecosystem where banks, retailers and their customers all benefit from the concept of ‘Pay with Points’.
Under Len’s direction as CTO, Engage People has created technology solutions that have led to the redemption of 1.4 billion points. The company works with 4 of the top 6 banks in Canada and is rapidly expanding in the U.S. Engage’s use of technology gives consumers the flexibility to spend points just as they would any other currency, which well-positions the company at the forefront of the ‘Pay with Points’ trend. To date, Engage covers the top 13% of all e-commerce transactions in North America.
Len’s entrepreneurial mindset is further exemplified by the suite of technologies he and his team at Engage People have built from complex data, some of which include: ● Podium: A loyalty program platform with over 10,000,00 active users. Podium displays a retailer’s merchandise and allows customers to see the dollar amount in points when making purchases ● Access Plus: A patented e-commerce redemption solution that allows members to convert points to currency so they can use their points as a form of payment Len’s guidance and passion for tech innovation continue to shape the growth of Engage People’s business. For financial institutions, Len’s team is building technology that will be essential to the future success of their loyalty programs.
A seasoned technologist, Len’s insights around the emerging pay with points trends have been featured in industry publications like PaymentsSource, BankBeat and the Tearsheet podcast. Len serves as an active member of Forbes Technology Council and a member of Engage People’s board of directors. He holds multiple patents in the payments space, including “inventor” on patent US20160078429A1, solving for an agnostic payment source at P.O.S.