Zach Yadegari, who co-founded the AI nutrition app Cal AI at 17, is joining TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 for a Builders Stage fireside chat titled “How to Create Viral Growth and Capitalize On It.” The article frames his story as an example of a high-school-founded app going viral: Cal AI passed 15 million downloads and $30 million in annual revenue in under two years, and MyFitnessPal acquired the company in a deal that closed in December 2025. The deal kept Cal AI as a standalone app, retained its seven-person team, and left Yadegari at the helm.

Cal AI’s pitch is simple: users photograph a meal, and the app uses image recognition plus the phone’s depth sensor to estimate calories, protein, carbs, and fat. Before Cal AI, Yadegari had already built a large online audience: at 16 he sold Totally Science, a gaming platform with more than 5 million users during the pandemic, for six figures.

At Disrupt, Yadegari will share what Cal AI learned about building in a distribution-driven market, the product pressure that came with rapid growth, and how to turn breakout attention into durable retention and long-term company building. The event runs October 13–15 at Moscone West in San Francisco, with 200+ sessions, 250+ speakers, and 300+ exhibiting startups. Ticket discounts are available through September 25 at 11:59 p.m. PT.