He wrote programs at the age of seven and founded the CAL AI calorie analysis application at eighteen, with a monthly revenue of 1.4 million dollars.

It is not easy to stand out in the wave of rapid development of AI globally. A calorie tracking application developed by high school students has accumulated over 8.3 million downloads by July this year, with monthly gross revenue reaching as high as 1.4 million USD, making it the fastest-growing AI health management application. At just 18 years old, Zach Yadegari began his entrepreneurial journey while still in high school. His company, Cal AI, went online in May 2024 and quickly became popular in just over a year. Users can simply scan food with their phones to identify calories and nutritional content, which is very well-received by the Y2K users who are currently very focused on appearance and dietary control.

Just take a photo with your phone, and AI can instantly analyze the calories and nutritional components.

Cal AI's functionality is quite simple yet very efficient. Users only need to take a photo of their meal, and the artificial intelligence can instantly judge and analyze the type of food, portion size, calories, and nutritional components such as protein, fat, and carbohydrates, making calorie counting no longer require manual input or weighing, streamlining the traditional dietary management process.

Zach Yadegari stated that the original idea for starting the business was very simple; he just wanted to develop an app that would make the process of tracking calorie intake and balancing nutrient consumption very easy. After its launch, the app received high recognition in the market. According to Zach's disclosure to a CNBC Make It reporter, after deducting platform fees from companies like Apple and Google, Cal AI's monthly gross profit has stabilized at 1.4 million dollars, and the number of employees has reached 30.

The motivation for starting a business comes from wanting to date girls.

Zach's entrepreneurial inspiration did not come from textbooks or entrepreneurial guidance, but rather from his own poor fitness experience. He realized that simply going to the gym was not enough to build muscle; he needed to manage his diet simultaneously to gain muscle to attract girls. However, he gave up on the calorie counting app available on the market after just three days because he had to manually input data and weigh food every time, which was simply unsustainable in the long run.

Until 2023, when ChatGPT and generative AI emerged, Zach realized that these new tools might be able to solve the dilemma. He collaborated with his tech partner Henry to develop a new APP. The two moved to San Francisco during the summer of their high school years, staying in a hackathon camp, and spent the entire summer sleeping in the office to develop the product, which was officially launched in May 2024.

Raised my head at seven, became a multi-million level app founder at eighteen.

Zach did not become famous overnight. Before founding Cal AI, he had already shown exceptional intelligence; he started learning to program at the age of seven. In his first year of high school, he developed a website called Totally Science to help high school students bypass campus internet restrictions to play games, and he earned his first startup capital through advertising profits. This capital was later fully invested in the development of Cal AI, where he quickly attracted a large user base through social media influencers' shares. Zach stated that the current marketing budget for Cal AI is still focused on collaborations with KOLs on social platforms like TikTok and Instagram, rather than traditional media. He mentioned that there is no need to spend big money on advertising, but rather to use creative content to encourage young people to share and spread the word, which is particularly important for startup teams.

Entrepreneurship Challenge: Consumer Education Gap

Despite the innovative features, Zach admits that Cal AI still faces many misunderstandings. For example, users may expect the AI to have "x-ray" capabilities to identify ingredients hidden under soup, or mistakenly believe that the app will automatically handle credit card payments and refunds. He stated that both payments and refunds are processed by the Apple Store, and the company does not handle the cash flow or card numbers.

Plan to start more companies to continue helping others

Zach has entered university, but he still runs Cal AI full-time. He lives in a rented house near campus with other founders, trying to balance work and studies. His only concern is the fear of interrupting his education. He hopes to maintain his studies while starting a business and also enjoy some of the social life that young people should have. He revealed to a CNBC reporter that he will not stop here and plans to open more companies in the future to help more people.

CAL AI Profile

Product Name: CAL AI

Function: Use AI to scan food photos, automatically analyze calories and nutritional components.

Launch Date: May 2024

Total downloads: 8.3 million (as of July 2025)

Monthly gross profit: approximately 1.4 million USD (after deducting App Store commission)

Team size: 30 people

Business model: two types of in-app upgrades: free and paid subscription.

Cal AI not only seized the momentum of generative AI, but also addressed users' dietary control issues. Zach Yadegari's entrepreneurial story proves that in the tech field, age is never a ceiling; action and creativity are key.

This article mentions that he started programming at the age of seven, founded the CAL AI calorie analysis application at eighteen, and has a monthly revenue of 1.4 million USD. It first appeared in Chain News ABMedia.