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Young Founder Turned a Personal Problem Into a Viral App That Already Sums Millions of Downloads and Significant Monthly Profit
While millions of 18-year-olds in the United States spent the summer preparing for college, Zach Yadegari was doing something different. Instead of just organizing materials or choosing classes, he was consolidating a company that now generates approximately US$ 1.4 million per month in gross profit.
The information was disclosed by CNBC Make It, in a report by Tom Huddleston Jr. and Valentina Duarte, highlighting how the young man built a digital empire even before graduating high school.
Yadegari is the co-founder and CEO of Cal AI, an artificial intelligence-based calorie counting app. He launched the startup in May 2024, straight from his parents’ house in Roslyn, New York. Since then, growth has accelerated.
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The functionality is simple yet powerful: the user takes a photo of the food, and the AI system automatically estimates the total calories. According to the founder himself, the app achieves 90% accuracy.
Moreover, the business model has also proven to be efficient. The download is free on Apple and Google Play stores. However, full access costs US$ 2.49 per month or US$ 29.99 per year.
Currently, Cal AI has 30 employees. Even after the fees charged by app stores, the company maintains a monthly gross profit of around US$ 1.4 million. Of that amount, approximately US$ 274,000 represents monthly net operating profit, before taxes and interest.
From Programmer at 7 to Millionaire Businessman in High School
Although success may seem sudden, the journey began very early.
At 7 years old, inspired by games like Minecraft, Zach was sent by his mother to a programming camp. From there, he dove into tutorials on YouTube, connected with other developers, and honed his skills.
Still in high school, he created the website Totally Science, focused on online games accessible on blocked school networks. In February 2024, he sold the platform for about US$ 100,000 to the company Freeze Nova.
However, the real leap came when he decided to tackle a personal problem. While training to improve his fitness, he said, “to impress the girls at school,” he realized that calorie counting apps required manual data entry, which he found tedious.
It was then that, alongside Henry Langmack and two other partners, Blake Anderson (24 years old) and Jake Castillo (30 years old), he decided to create an AI-based solution capable of analyzing food images.
They invested US$ 2,000 in initial marketing on social media. The result was surprising.
In the first month, the app generated US$ 28,000 in revenue. In the second month, revenue jumped to US$ 115,000. The steady growth allowed them to expand the team and structure the company.
In just one year, the app accumulated 8.3 million downloads, according to data released in July.
Meanwhile, Zach maintained an intense routine: he worked about 40 hours per week at Cal AI and, simultaneously, maintained a 4.0 GPA in high school.
Would you drop out of college to run a company that is already making millions a month?
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