Zach Yadegari, the 19-year-old entrepreneur who made headlines after revealing that 15 of the 18 universities he applied to had rejected him, has raised $10 million for his latest artificial intelligence startup, Persona.

According to TechCrunch, the funding round was led by Vine Ventures, with participation from Z Fellows founder Cory Levy and Collective Global. The Long Island native is best known as the co-founder of Cal AI, a calorie-tracking app that uses AI to estimate the nutritional content of meals from photographs. Fitness platform MyFitnessPal acquired Cal AI in March 2026, reportedly after the app passed 15 million downloads and more than $30 million in annual revenue within two years. The acquisition price was not disclosed.

From school projects to millions

Yadegari began learning computer programming at the age of seven and started several businesses while still in school. One early venture, a gaming website that let students access games blocked on school networks, was reportedly sold for around $100,000 when he was just 16.

He attracted widespread attention in April 2025 when he revealed his college application results: rejections from 15 institutions, including Harvard, Yale and Stanford, despite reportedly having a 4.0 GPA, a score of 34 on the American College Testing exam, and an established business. He eventually enrolled at the University of Miami.

A new bet on AI

After MyFitnessPal’s acquisition, Yadegari stayed on briefly before leaving the company in June to build Persona, his latest attempt to expand his presence in the AI industry. Persona is his second major AI venture after Cal AI, which he co-founded and launched in 2024.

The funding round caps an unusual few years for the teenager, whose university rejections became a talking point about the value of traditional credentials in the startup world. At 19, with two businesses built and sold, he has now secured $10 million to pursue his next ambition.