MyFitnessPal acquires Cal AI, the calorie-counting startup built by teens that gained 15M users in 2 years
Seattle: MyFitnessPal has bought Cal AI, a popular calorie-counting app built by two teenagers. Cal AI uses artificial intelligence to help people track how many calories they eat by taking pictures of their food.
Mike Fisher, MyFitnessPal’s leader, said Cal AI grew very fast. The app was downloaded over 15 million times and made more than $30 million in its first two years. Zach Yadegari and Henry Langmack, both now 19 years old, built Cal AI while still in high school.
Fisher learned about Cal AI when he saw it climbing the app store charts. “I was impressed with these young people,” Fisher said. He admired how they worked hard even while going to school. Cal AI has seven workers who will now stay with the company.
The Cal AI app will still work the same way. People can take pictures of their food to see how many calories it has. Now it also uses MyFitnessPal’s big food database with 20 million different foods and meals from restaurants.
MyFitnessPal will not change Cal AI much. The two apps help different kinds of people. Cal AI is for people who want fast results. MyFitnessPal is better for people who want very exact calorie counts.
Zach Yadegari is now in college but still runs Cal AI. He told people last year that even with perfect grades and a successful company, 15 colleges said no when he applied.
The companies did not say how much money changed hands. Fisher said Cal AI could have kept working alone, so they felt happy about the deal.
Mike Fisher, MyFitnessPal’s leader, said Cal AI grew very fast. The app was downloaded over 15 million times and made more than $30 million in its first two years. Zach Yadegari and Henry Langmack, both now 19 years old, built Cal AI while still in high school.
Fisher learned about Cal AI when he saw it climbing the app store charts. “I was impressed with these young people,” Fisher said. He admired how they worked hard even while going to school. Cal AI has seven workers who will now stay with the company.
The Cal AI app will still work the same way. People can take pictures of their food to see how many calories it has. Now it also uses MyFitnessPal’s big food database with 20 million different foods and meals from restaurants.
MyFitnessPal will not change Cal AI much. The two apps help different kinds of people. Cal AI is for people who want fast results. MyFitnessPal is better for people who want very exact calorie counts.
Zach Yadegari is now in college but still runs Cal AI. He told people last year that even with perfect grades and a successful company, 15 colleges said no when he applied.
The companies did not say how much money changed hands. Fisher said Cal AI could have kept working alone, so they felt happy about the deal.