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YouAte
Techstars '19Redwood City, US · Founded 2016 · 15 employees on LinkedIn · 1 known investors
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AteMate is a health journaling app that combines food, sleep, movement, mood, and hydration tracking with an AI coach to help users identify patterns in their health habits. The app serves individuals seeking to develop sustainable health behaviors without restrictive diet mentality.
Also known as Ate · AteMate · AteMate Food Journal · PIQNIQ, INC.
Investors · 1
How we know: the Techstars portfolio · open dataset · Top 3000 Accelerator Startups (no YC) 2026-08 · Not right? Tell us
Company profile
researched Sep 2026YouAte operates AteMate, a mobile food and health journaling application built around photographing meals rather than counting calories. Users capture a meal photo — which the app can recognize and auto-tag — and optionally add short reflections on mood, sleep, movement, and hydration; additional measurements such as weight, blood pressure and blood glucose can be logged, and movement and CGM glucose readings can sync automatically via Health Connect on Android. Entries appear on a single chronological visual timeline alongside exercise, sleep and water so users can observe week-level patterns, and an automatic fasting tracker measures the time between meals. A lock-screen/home-screen widget allows logging in about three taps.
The product's second component is an AI Coach that has context on the user's journal going back months and answers questions about the user's own habits, energy, intake and recovery. The company states the coach does not provide medical advice and that the app is not a medical device and does not diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any condition. Calories and macros are offered as optional learning tools rather than daily targets. AteMate also offers a coach-facing mode: dietitians and health coaches can view a client's photo journal in real time, comment and share notes through a dashboard at youate.com/coach, and when a user works with a human coach through AteMate the experience centers on that coach rather than the AI.
AteMate is positioned as an alternative for people who have cycled through calorie-tracking apps, intuitive eaters, clients working with dietitians, and people recovering from a difficult relationship with food. The app states a no-ads, no-data-selling policy, says health data is not used to train AI models, keeps journals private by default with opt-in per-friend or per-coach sharing, and provides settings to disable AI features including photo analysis and the coach.
Business model
Consumer subscription software distributed through mobile app stores, with a 7-day free trial and no advertising or data sales; billing on Android is handled through Google Play with auto-renewing subscriptions. A separate coach/dietitian dashboard product supports professional users.
Subscription tiers: AteMate (full journal, insights and a preview of the AI coach), AteMate Coach (standard AI coach access) and AteMate Coach Plus (extended access), all following a 7-day free trial. In-app purchases are offered on Google Play.
Traction
The website states the product is used by more than 600,000 people. The Android listing reports 100,000+ downloads and a 2.6 rating from 582 reviews, and the company lists partnerships with the YMCA, ACE and the U.S. Air Force. A separate iOS presence and a coach dashboard extend distribution to professionals.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Competes in consumer food-tracking and nutrition apps against calorie- and macro-oriented products such as MyFitnessPal, Yazio and Cal AI and photo-journaling apps such as See How You Eat, differentiating on a no-numbers, mindful-eating framework plus AI coaching. The Google Play listing shows over 100,000 downloads and a 2.6-star average across roughly 582 reviews; the company's site cites more than 600,000 people using the product.
The photo is the log: the product deliberately omits mandatory calorie counting and macro targets, instead combining optional reflection prompts, a holistic single-view timeline spanning food, exercise, sleep and water, and an AI coach grounded in the user's own longitudinal journal rather than generic guidance. Subscription-only pricing is presented as the reason it runs no ads and does not sell data. Stated trade-offs include no calorie or macro targets, no free tier beyond the trial, and an iOS-first experience with Android reported as less polished.
Technology
Photo recognition that identifies and auto-tags meals, an AI coach that reasons over months of a user's journal entries to surface cross-domain patterns across food, mood, sleep, movement and hydration, Health Connect integration on Android for movement and continuous glucose monitor data, an automatic fasting timer derived from meal timestamps, lock-screen and home-screen capture widgets, and user-level controls to disable AI features.
Go-to-market
Direct-to-consumer distribution via the iOS App Store and Google Play with a 7-day free trial, supported by a marketing site, blog and a dedicated "For Coaches" channel; the company cites partnerships with the YMCA, the American Council on Exercise (ACE) and the U.S. Air Force and media coverage in Women's Health, TIME, The New York Times, Forbes and The Washington Post.
Individuals who have burned out on calorie and macro tracking, intuitive eaters, people seeking more energy or habits that survive busy weeks and travel, those working on a calmer relationship with food or in disordered-eating recovery, and clients of dietitians and health coaches who use the coach dashboard.
Geography
United States-based operations, with the app operator listed at 2000 S. Colorado Blvd, Denver, Colorado; the app is published in English and distributed globally through Google Play and the iOS App Store.
History
The product has operated as a photo-first mindful food journal since at least 2017 and has since been rebranded and extended as AteMate, adding AI photo auto-tagging and an AI Coach, plus a coach/dietitian dashboard. Recent releases added CGM glucose syncing through Health Connect, full user controls to turn off AI features, improved meal-photo framing and performance fixes.
Risks & controversies
The Android app holds a 2.6-star average rating, with reviewers reporting registration failures, text-entry and dictation problems and camera permission issues; third-party comparison material describes Android as buggy relative to iOS. The product has no free tier beyond a 7-day trial. The company explicitly disclaims medical-device status and states the app does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
Compiled by commissioned research from 6 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Non-dilutive funding · 2 SBIR/STTR awards
Federal grants — no equity taken| Agency | Phase | Year | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Air ForceAir Force | Phase II | 2020 | $498.7K |
| U.S. Air ForceAir Force | Phase I | 2019 | $50K |
Source: SBIR.gov award data (U.S. Small Business Administration). SBIR/STTR awards are competitive federal R&D grants and contracts — non-dilutive capital alongside any venture rounds above.
Timeline · 3
launches, deals, and filingsRelease notes for the Android app update state CGM glucose readings sync through Health Connect alongside meals, mood and sleep; a new Smart Features settings section allows turning off all AI including photo analysis and the AI Coach; plus meal photo framing guides and performance improvements.
The company lists the YMCA, the American Council on Exercise (ACE) and the U.S. Air Force as partners on its website and Google Play listing.
AI-based automatic food tagging of meal photos described as a recent addition layered on top of the photo journal.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 6
primary sources listed
- YouAteyouate.com · web
6 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does YouAte do?
- AteMate (YouAte) is a photo-based food and health journaling app with a built-in AI coach.
- Who are YouAte's investors?
- YouAte's investors include Techstars.
- Where is YouAte headquartered?
- YouAte is headquartered in Redwood City, US.