Building a startup without tapping your billionaire father for funding makes for a better story, and Phoebe Gates appears to be writing exactly that narrative. Her AI-powered shopping app Phia just raised $30 million from investors who notably don't include Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.
The funding round values the company at $180 million, a remarkable jump just months after its initial $8 million seed raise, according to Bloomberg. That's the kind of growth trajectory that gets Silicon Valley excited.
Notable Capital led the round under Managing Partner Hans Tung, joined by heavyweight venture capital firms Kleiner Perkins and Khosla Ventures. The investor list reads like a who's who of tech and celebrity: model Hailey Bieber, media personality Kris Jenner, former Meta Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, and Spanx founder Sara Blakely all backed the company.
From Dorm Room to Half a Million Users
Gates co-founded Phia with Stanford University classmate Sophia Kianni, developing an AI shopping agent designed to cut through what they call "the chaos of online shopping." The platform functions as an AI-powered search engine that lets users compare prices, track discounts, and hunt for products across multiple retailers and resale platforms.
The timing couldn't be better. Phia is riding a wave of investor enthusiasm for AI agents, those software programs designed to automate repetitive digital tasks that people would rather not do themselves, according to the New York Post.
Gates and Kianni told Vogue that the app, which they started in their dorm room, has racked up more than half a million downloads in less than six months. That's impressive growth for a lean operation running with fewer than 10 full-time employees.
Beyond Price Comparison
The small team has focused on building features users actually want, including real-time price drop alerts and international shipping and tariff calculations. These aren't flashy additions, but they solve real problems for online shoppers.
While price comparison forms the foundation, Gates and Kianni have bigger ambitions. They envision Phia evolving into an end-to-end shopping assistant that goes beyond finding the cheapest option.
"We really want to build an AI shopping assistant that's able to answer the question, 'Should I buy this?' for every single person with true personalization," Gates told Vogue.
That's the pitch that turned a dorm room project into a $180 million company without needing a family loan from one of the world's richest people. Sometimes the best investment from wealthy parents is letting their kids figure it out themselves.
