Cal AI
Zach Yadegari
Coded Cal AI as a high schooler, then sold it to MyFitnessPal.
Cal AI
Revenue
$40M/yr
Sold to MyFitnessPal
Audience
15M+ downloads
Launched
May 2024
Age at launch
17
01Started from
Where it started
A high schooler who was already an entrepreneur: his site Totally Science made six figures from around age 14.
- Tech level
- Experienced developer (coding for 7 years)
- Starting money
- ~$2,000 marketing test, self-funded for ~6 months
- How it was built
- Coded by Zach and CTO Henry Langmack, co-founded with Blake Anderson, using native development and AI vision models.
- Funding
- Bootstrapped, then acquired by MyFitnessPal (closed Dec. 2025, announced March 2026): his second exit.
- Tools
- native developmentAI / vision models
02Journey
The journey
Around 14
A first business
While still at school, his site Totally Science already makes six figures.
May 2024
Cal AI launches
At 17, he launches Cal AI: you photograph your meal and the AI counts calories and macros. First marketing test: ~$2,000.
8 months later
5M downloads
Users’ own TikTok videos carry the app to 5M downloads, then 15M+ in under two years.
Dec. 2025
Sold to MyFitnessPal
The sale closes (announced March 2026), with Cal AI at ~$40M a year and ~$50M ARR at closing. His second exit.
03Lessons
What you can take from it
- 01
Test your acquisition with a small budget (~$2,000 for Cal AI) before betting everything.
- 02
Cut your app down to one gesture: a single photo is enough to log a meal.
- 03
Let users show the product on TikTok: their videos drove 15M+ downloads.
“Clearly, you don't need college to be successful.”
Figures come from public sources (press, the founders’ own posts) and are sometimes self-reported.
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