Business · Companies · 3 hrs ago
Cal AI founder says influencer marketing drove its viral growth
Zach Yadegari said paid influencers helped Cal AI grow quickly during a talk at TechCrunch Disrupt.
The 19-year-old founded the AI-powered calorie-tracking app in 2024.
An influencer’s post brought about 1,000 new users in two days, prompting the company to recruit more creators and pay them based on their reach.
Yadegari said Cal AI got the best results from influencers with close-knit audiences whose reach could be measured.
Cal AI generated more than $30 million in revenue in two years and was acquired by MyFitnessPal in March for an undisclosed amount.
Yadegari has since launched Persona, a personal AI assistant startup that has raised $10 million and plans to work across services such as messaging, email and phone calls.
Cal AI founder Zach Yadegari said influencer marketing was central to the calorie-tracking app’s rapid growth.
The company recruited influencers and paid them to promote the app, with compensation linked to reach.
Yadegari said an influencer post brought about 1,000 new users over two days.
Founded in 2024, Cal AI generated more than $30 million in revenue over two years.
MyFitnessPal acquired Cal AI in March for an undisclosed amount.
- Who
- Zach Yadegari, founder of Cal AI, described the company’s growth strategy.
- What
- Cal AI grew rapidly using paid influencer promotions and was later acquired by MyFitnessPal.
- When
- Cal AI was founded in 2024; Yadegari discussed its growth at TechCrunch Disrupt on Thursday.
- Where
- Yadegari spoke onstage at TechCrunch Disrupt. The event’s location is not stated.
- Why
- Yadegari said influencer posts drove users to the app, especially when creators had tightly connected communities.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Cal AI was founded.
An influencer’s post about Cal AI brought approximately 1,000 new users over two days.
MyFitnessPal acquired Cal AI for an undisclosed amount.
Yadegari discussed Cal AI’s growth strategy at TechCrunch Disrupt.
- Founder
- Zach Yadegari
- Founded
- 2024
- New users
- Approximately 1,000 over two days after an influencer post
- Revenue
- More than $30 million over two years
- Acquirer
- MyFitnessPal
- Acquisition price
- Undisclosed amount
What people are saying
From there, we figured out, okay, this can actually work for us, and so we started recruiting influencers as fast as we could — paying as many people as possible to start posting for us.
The biggest thing for us was finding influencers that had very tight communities.
What we saw was that it was a clear formula. It was pretty linear, but it was extremely fast.