Cal AI founder says paid influencers drove the app’s rapid growth

In short: Cal AI’s 19-year-old founder said the calorie tracking app grew quickly by paying a large group of influencers to post about it.

What happened

Zach Yadegari, the founder of Cal AI, spoke at TechCrunch Disrupt about how his app got popular online. Cal AI is a calorie tracking app that uses AI, which is software that tries to spot patterns and make helpful guesses, like a very fast assistant.

Yadegari said an early influencer post brought about 1,000 new users in two days. After that, he said the company recruited influencers “as fast as we could,” and paid many of them to keep posting.

He described the approach as predictable. In simple terms, the team believed each post would reach a certain number of people, and a portion of those viewers would sign up. He also said Cal AI negotiated rates, and sometimes tied payments to reaching a specific number of new users.

TechCrunch reported that Cal AI was founded in 2024, generated over $30 million in revenue in two years, and was acquired by MyFitness in March for an undisclosed amount.

Yadegari also briefly discussed Persona, a newer startup he launched earlier this month. TechCrunch previously reported Persona raised $10 million and is working on a personal AI assistant that could work across places like messaging, email, and phone calls.

Why it matters

This is a clear example of how consumer apps can grow through paid social media promotion, not just through traditional ads. For everyday users, it is a reminder that “viral” apps are not always spreading naturally, sometimes they are pushed by paid posts, similar to seeing the same product recommended by many people because they were hired to do it.

Source: TechCrunch AI