Globally artificial intelligence is changing how we live. 17-year-old high school student Zach Yadegari is making a mark in health and fitness technology. As the co-founder and CEO of Cal AI, Yadegari has developed a nutrition-tracking app designed to simplify calorie counting and meal planning.
His approach, backed by innovative AI technology and a unique marketing strategy, has drawn attention and disrupted an industry dominated by established players.
Read also: Meet the $200 billion club with only three members all tied to tech industry
From early lessons to big ventures
Yadegari’s entrepreneurial spirit emerged early. At age 10, he began teaching coding lessons for $30 an hour according to Forbes. His business sense quickly kicked in, and he scaled his venture by advertising in local Facebook groups, growing his student base from one to three. For a young child, this felt like a significant achievement. His fascination with business continued to grow, fuelled by films like The Social Network, which showed him the potential of scalable ventures. Inspired by the possibility of financial independence, Yadegari sought ways to reach his goals through technology.
The birth of Cal AI: From pandemic project to million-dollar venture
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Yadegari’s entrepreneurial skills took off. Noticing that schools were handing out Chromebooks, he developed an unblocked gaming site that centralised popular games for students. The site attracted five million users and later sold for a six-figure sum. Building on this experience, he partnered with Henry Langmack, a peer he met at a coding camp, to explore other tech-driven ventures. They launched Grind Clock, a motivational alarm clock app that saw 20,000 downloads in its first two weeks. Although it didn’t sustain growth, it laid the groundwork for their next project.
When Yadegari connected with Blake Anderson, a seasoned app developer, he gained both funding and industry insight. Together, Yadegari, Langmack, and Anderson began work on Cal AI, an app aiming to redefine nutrition tracking.
Read also: Four predictions to expect for the tech and telecoms industry in 2025
A disruptive approach to nutrition tracking
Cal AI offers features beyond the scope of legacy apps like MyFitnessPal and Lose It!. With an extensive food database, barcode scanning, meal scanning, and natural language meal descriptions, the app addresses the gaps in traditional nutrition trackers. While many apps rely on manual data entry, Cal AI has introduced AI-powered image recognition technology that estimates nutritional content with 90% accuracy under optimal conditions. This accuracy rate surpasses that of nutrition labels, which, by FDA standards, can be up to 20% off.
Yadegari saw the need for an app that could make calorie counting less tedious. “I tried tracking my calories with MyFitnessPal, but it was too time-consuming to type everything in,” he explains. This frustration drove the innovation behind Cal AI’s image recognition technology, designed to streamline food tracking.
Read also: Top 7 countries that use ChatGPT the most
Rapid growth through direct marketing
Since its launch in May 2024, Cal AI has seen remarkable growth. In just six months, the app has achieved over one million downloads, and $12 million in annual recurring revenue, and now employs 17 full-time staff. Yadegari credits this success to a “relationship-based” influencer marketing strategy that bypasses traditional advertising. Rather than relying on agencies, Cal AI builds direct connections with influencers to promote the app. “Big companies miss out because they’re not flexible enough to keep up with social media and AI’s rapid pace,” Yadegari notes.
The company’s primary user base consists of young adults aged 15-25, but it is working to broaden its demographic reach. Yadegari believes the app can appeal to older users who want to maintain their health and is planning targeted strategies to attract users in different age groups.
Read also: 10 biggest tech company layoffs in Africa since 2020 — 3,160 jobs lost
Balancing school and business
Running a company while finishing high school has its challenges. Yadegari manages his team remotely, using Slack during school hours and scheduling calls after classes. His co-founders play key roles, with Henry Langmack as CTO leading the development team, Jake as COO handling marketing operations, and Blake as CMO focusing on high-level strategy and positioning.
A new generation of young tech entrepreneurs
Yadegari and his team represent a new generation of tech leaders reshaping industries. His co-founder Langmack, also 17, exemplifies this trend, with Yadegari noting his exceptional programming skills despite lacking formal education. Other young entrepreneurs are making similar strides, such as Kelechi Onyeama with Social Wizard and Alex Slater with Quittr.
Join BusinessDay whatsapp Channel, to stay up to date
Open In Whatsapp
