Here's a startup puzzle: what do you do when you're the daughter of one of the world's most famous billionaires, but you want your company to be judged on its own merits? If you're Phoebe Gates, you build an AI shopping app called Phia, raise $35 million from top-tier venture capitalists, and then tell everyone you're intentionally keeping your last name out of the pitch.

That's exactly what Gates has been doing, according to recent interviews. She's trying to push back on assumptions that her family name is part of the product, even as investor demand has helped Phia scale quickly. The app has topped half a million downloads in under six months while running with fewer than 10 full-time employees. Not bad for a company that's trying to make its way in the crowded AI shopping assistant market.

The Independence Play

During an interview, Gates shared how she's keeping her last name out of the fundraising process, even after raising that $35 million and putting the company's value at about $185 million. She told a podcast, "no ties to my privilege or my last name," describing a push to be judged on execution rather than inheritance.

Here's what's interesting: Gates hasn't taken funding from her parents for Phia. Instead, she's brought in outside backers. In one fundraising snapshot, Phia raised $30 million at a $180 million valuation, with Notable Capital leading under managing partner Hans Tung and firms like Kleiner Perkins and Khosla Ventures joining in.

But being a young female founder with a famous last name comes with its own set of challenges. Gates and her cofounder Sophia Kianni have said they've faced questions in investor meetings that drift from product to personal life, including whether they might step away to have children. Gates recounted calling her mother after one such moment and hearing: "Get up or get out the game."

How Phia Actually Works

So what does this company actually do? Phia's pitch centers on removing friction from buying online. It uses an AI agent that works through browsers like Chrome and Safari to scan pricing across retail and resale options. The tool compares offers across a large range of stores and secondhand platforms in real time, turning a single product page into a broader price check.

Gates has framed the user as someone who wants to shop efficiently without doing endless tabs and manual searches. Last year, she told a reporter, "Our target consumer is a young woman who's hustling. She shops like a genius, but she doesn't want to waste her time doing it," tying the product to consumer empowerment.

Operationally, the company has tried to move fast without getting big. Those fewer than 10 full-time employees are supporting that app with half a million downloads. The team has focused on user-driven upgrades, including real-time price-drop alerts and tools that factor in international shipping and tariff calculations.

Gates has pointed to lessons from her father while still drawing a boundary between guidance and advantage. She credited him with reinforcing how central hiring is to building a durable business, saying: "From my dad I've really learned that your team is the core of what you're building. You can't do anything without an incredible team."

The "Nepo Baby" Who's Leaning In

This perspective on entrepreneurship is underscored by Gates' admission of her privilege as a "nepo baby," which she openly acknowledged in a recent interview. She emphasized that she embraces the label rather than shying away from it. In earlier discussions, Gates described how her experiences as a Stanford student, including a significant "aha" moment while developing Phia with co-founder Sophia Kianni, highlighted the challenges young shoppers face when trying to align their purchases with personal values.

These insights into consumer behavior informed Phia's development, which aims to streamline online shopping by leveraging smart data and creating a clean browser interface that simplifies the decision-making process. By focusing on speed, ethics, and personalization, Phia seeks to resonate with its target demographic and redefine how young women shop.

What $35 Million Buys You

The company's fundraising has been a key proof point as it tries to separate traction from pedigree. That $35 million round was led by Notable Capital and joined by Kleiner Perkins and Khosla Ventures. The deal followed an earlier $8 million seed round and helped establish Phia's valuation near $185 million.

A separate investor lineup has also included celebrity backers such as Hailey Bieber, Kris Jenner, Sheryl Sandberg and Sara Blakely, adding visibility as the company competes in that crowded AI-agent market. Gates has said the longer-term goal goes beyond spotting cheaper listings, aiming for an assistant that can deliver personalized guidance. She told Vogue: "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."

So there you have it: a startup trying to make online shopping easier, a founder trying to prove she can build something meaningful beyond her famous last name, and $35 million in venture capital betting she can pull it off. The next question is whether users will download the app because of what it does, or because of who built it—and whether that distinction even matters in the end.