LittleMoochi is an app that helps children develop healthy eating habits by “raising” an AI-powered digital pet. A child snaps a picture of his/her plate, LittleMoochi’s deep learning-based AI engine recognizes the ingredients, analyzes the nutrients, and provides the child with personalized food suggestions.

The app was developed by a Carnegie Mellon University team with a diverse background spanning artificial intelligence, business/finance, and software development. The cofounder team shares the same passion to leverage their expertise and use cutting edge technology to make people’s lives healthier and happier.

The idea was inspired by CEO & Co-founder Summer Xia’s own “sweet trouble,” her 6-year-old daughter who is a picky eater, Summer also realized that unhealthy eating pattern causes childhood obesity, which is a severe social problem. She then decided to build LittleMoochi.

The team envisions LittleMoochi’s success will help combat the growing obesity epidemic. According to the CDC, over 2/3 of US adults and 1/3 of US children are overweight or obese. The rate has more than tripled since the 1970s. Research indicates that establishing healthy habits in children, as LittleMoochi seeks to do, is an effective way of preventing obesity as well as preventing the continuation/intensification of weight issues into adulthood. As such, LittleMoochi is poised to solve one of the nation’s most pressing and costly issues.