Following nearly a year of negotiations, MyFitnessPal has successfully acquired its emerging competitor Cal AI.

Cal AI is the innovative AI-driven calorie counting app developed by two high school students, achieving over 15 million downloads and more than $30 million in annual revenue in less than two years, according to MyFitnessPal’s statement to TechCrunch. 

The team at Cal AI, consisting of seven employees, including co-founder and CEO Zach Yadegari (as seen in the image above), as well as a handful of contractors, have been kept on board by MyFitnessPal, per CEO Mike Fisher’s remarks.

The Cal AI app will maintain its independent status, adhering to its user-friendly goal of calculating calories through food photography. An upgrade for Cal AI users has already been implemented since the closure of the deal in December: the app is now linked with MyFitnessPal’s extensive nutrition database, which includes 20 million food items, 68,500 brands, and dishes from over 380 restaurant chains. 

Details of the agreement were not revealed, aside from Fisher indicating that the Cal AI team was satisfied with the offer, as they were not compelled to sell. Given the $30 million revenue figure, it seems to be a favorable outcome for the now 19-year-old co-founders, Yadegari and his high school peer Henry Langmack.  

Fisher noted that the acquisition process required significant tenacity. The larger company recognized Cal AI as it began ascending the app store rankings, through resources like Sensor Tower, he mentioned.  

“We monitor the entire competitive landscape,” Fisher stated, which includes around 70 competitors of various sizes. “They certainly drew our attention, I would say, early last year, and we’ve been in communication with them intermittently since then.” 

What drove Fisher and his team to pursue the acquisition was not only monitoring Cal AI’s ascent in the app download rankings (the two applications are closely matched in the top standings within their category on Sensor Tower). He was also impressed by the dedicated approach of the team led by its youthful CEO. 

“They attracted considerable media interest due to their youth, which is easy to overlook,” he remarked. “After speaking with them, like I did in late spring last year, you leave realizing what an impressive young man he is.” 

For example, Cal AI’s weekly stand-up meeting takes place on Sunday evenings. Given that the founders are still attending school, Yadegari commits his weekends to his startup, with his team sufficiently dedicated to meet with him on Sundays for regular check-ins. 

“These little details, when accumulated, reveal that this is not just a hobby for them,” Fisher observed. “They are truly committed.” 

Fisher chose not to disclose the retention period for the founders and team at MyFitnessPal after the acquisition. A four-year timeline is commonly seen in the industry, often associated with payouts, but he remained tight-lipped on this, even with further inquiry. 

However, it is known that Yadegari continues to lead the app, now as part of MyFitnessPal, while attending college. The young entrepreneur gained viral attention on X last year when he shared that despite a 4.0 GPA and running a successful business, he was rejected by 15 out of 18 top colleges he applied to.

He told TechCrunch during that time that he hadn’t planned on pursuing college, preferring to concentrate on his company. However, a summer spent in a hacker house surrounded by successful Silicon Valley college dropouts made him realize that having a college degree would vastly improve his opportunities.

Fisher mentioned that currently there are no intentions from MFP to incorporate the app into its primary product, such as replacing MFP’s existing photo-meal scanning feature, nor to entice Cal AI users away. He believes that the applications cater to different demographics.

Cal AI targets users looking for speed rather than precision, whereas MFP caters to those seeking the opposite. “Both applications offer meal scanning, correct? So, if a user captures a photo of their meal, we both provide that option,” Fisher explained. However, MFP users can fine-tune their inputs down to specifying three pickles instead of two. With Cal AI, “We recognized there is a market of people who prioritize speed, desire an AI-based approach, and wish for it to seamlessly fit into their lives without requiring much thought.”