Two brothers built MyFitnessPal as a side project to track calories for their own weight loss. Nine years later, Under Armour bought it for $475 million. Under Armour couldn't figure out what to do with it. Francisco Partners bought it for reportedly much less. Through it all, 200+ million people have used the app to obsessively log every meal. The world's largest food database, 14 million foods and counting, was built by users voluntarily typing in what they ate. Free labor at its most delicious.
Founded
2005
HQ
Austin, USA
Total Raised
Bootstrapped (acquired for $475M)
Founder
Mike Lee, Albert Lee
Status
Private (owned by Francisco Partners)
Website
www.myfitnesspal.comTHE ORIGIN STORY
Mike Lee and Albert Lee were brothers who wanted to lose weight before Mike's wedding. They started tracking calories on spreadsheets and realized the process was tedious but effective.
In 2005, they built MyFitnessPal as a website where anyone could log food intake and track calories.
The genius was the food database. Instead of building it themselves, they let users add foods.
Every time someone scanned a barcode or typed in a meal, the database grew. By 2015, the database had over 5 million foods, all contributed by users.
WHAT THEY ACTUALLY DO
Freemium model. The basic app is free with ads.
MyFitnessPal Premium removes ads and adds features like food analysis, custom goals, and macro tracking. Subscription costs about $20/month or $80/year.
The company also licenses its food database and API to other health and fitness apps, creating a data revenue stream.
THE PRODUCTS
The MyFitnessPal app with food logging, barcode scanning, and calorie tracking. The food database with 14+ million foods.
Macro tracking for protein, carbs, and fat. Integration with fitness trackers like Apple Watch, Fitbit, and Garmin.
Recipe analysis that calculates calories from recipes.
HOW THEY GREW
Organic growth through word of mouth. MyFitnessPal spread because it worked.
People lost weight, told friends, and the app grew without significant marketing spend. The user-generated food database created a network effect: the more people used it, the more complete the database became.
Barcode scanning was the killer feature. Point your phone at any packaged food and instantly see the calories and nutritional information.
This reduced the friction of food logging from minutes to seconds.
THE HARD PART
User retention is hard. Most people download a calorie tracking app, use it for a few weeks, get bored, and stop.
Converting free users to paying subscribers is the eternal challenge.
The Under Armour acquisition in 2015 for $475 million was supposed to integrate MyFitnessPal into a broader health platform. It didn't work.
Under Armour struggled with its fitness app strategy. In 2020, Under Armour sold MyFitnessPal to Francisco Partners for a reported $345 million, a significant loss.
MONEY TRAIL
Acquisition by Under Armour
2015 · Led by Under Armour
$475M raised
$475M valuation
Acquisition by Francisco Partners
2020 · Led by Francisco Partners
$345M raised
$345M valuation
WHO BACKED THEM
MyFitnessPal was bootstrapped by the Lee brothers for nearly a decade before Under Armour acquired it for $475 million in 2015. Under Armour sold it to Francisco Partners in 2020.
The app has maintained a strong user base throughout its ownership changes.
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