Phia founders announce $35M celebrity-backed funding round

Phia founders Phoebe Gates (the daughter of Bill and Melinda French Gates) and Sophia Kianni have announced a $35 million funding round, bringing the New York-based company’s total haul to $43 million. During an appearance on CBS Mornings in late May, the duo said celebrities Mindy Kaling, Jessica Alba, Ashley Graham, Khloe Kardashian and Shaboozey were just a handful of big-name investors backing the company, which offers an AI-driven shopping agent that now has more than 1 million users and 6,200 retail brand partners. Gates and Kianni met while students at Stanford University. “We built Phia to be a win for shoppers and brands,” Gates said, “helping people discover products they love while enabling brands to build stronger customer relationships.”