Cal AI's teen founder raises $10M for Persona

Zach Yadegari, 19-year-old co-founder of Cal AI, has launched Persona, an AI personal assistant startup, and raised $10 million led by Vine Ventures. After MyFitnessPal acquired Cal AI earlier this year, Yadegari left in June to build Persona, which operates via iMessage in free beta and will add a $179 wearable band in December. The assistant handles tasks like ordering food, booking travel, and managing email. It runs on Persona's cloud, encrypts user data, and promises not to sell data to advertisers, though it will display sponsored shopping results.