Khloé Kardashian Joins Investors in Phoebe Gates’ App
Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni have collected a considerable sum of money to finance their AI-driven shopping app, Phia. Their company discloses that it has received a whopping $35.5 million in new seed capital.
Notable Capital, Khosla Ventures, and Kleiner Perkins are the lead investors. Combining with the previous $8 million seed round, Phia’s overall capital is now $43.5 million.
The recent round also broadened the base of celebrities who were attracted to invest in the company; besides Khloé Kardashian, Alix Earle, Olivia Culpo, Paris Hilton, Mindy Kaling, Jessica Alba, Sydney Sweeney, and Priyanka Chopra Jonas were among other high-profile investors. Kardashian revealed that what persuaded her to invest was her mother, Kris Jenner, who also invested in Phia’s earlier funding round together with Hailey Bieber.
“My mom has always been the one with the futuristic mindset, so when Kris Jenner gets involved in a business, I am all ears,” Kardashian said. “Joining her as a co-investor is such an incredible journey for me, and I can’t wait.”
Since launching in April 2025, Phia has gained 1.5M+ users and made TIME’s Best Inventions list.
The shopping app based on AI collaborates with over 9,600 retail brand partners and assists shoppers in price comparison, predicting resale value, and tracking discounts in real time. Investor Jessica Alba mentioned the platform’s dedication to transparency as the main reason why she decided to support the company.
“The Phia platform’s transparency has become the major factor for me in investing in the company, ” Alba revealed. “When I saw the concept of Phia for the first time, I really understood it. What makes this application so special for me is that it eliminates the uncertainty from shopping. It provides you with genuine transparency about value so that you can be sure of your choices instead of having doubts if you did the right thing after all.”
Phia was launched by Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni, who met as roommates at Stanford.
Phia’s creation was intended to bring the online shopping experience into the 21st century through the use of artificial intelligence, according to Phoebe. “The power of AI is being leveraged in almost every industry, but shopping remains at its traditional level,” she explained. “People continue to spend time investigating prices and looking for offers, and yet, they still overpay.” Investor Alix Earle commented that she invested in Phia, as she is passionate about helping women-led businesses.
“Woman’s business support is, in my opinion, one of the biggest levers a woman can have, ” Earle remarked, “So it’s very natural for me to go beyond with female founders who are not only building great companies but also ones that are the very face of tomorrow.”
