Phia Raises $35 Million Series A to Expand AI-Powered Shopping Assistant Platform
Phia, the ambitious AI-powered shopping assistant co-founded by Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni, has rapidly become one of the notable emerging startups in consumer technology, securing significant funding and attracting high-profile investors as it builds an intelligent commerce platform designed to transform online shopping. Since launching in April 2025, the New York-based company has achieved rapid growth in its first year, surpassing 1 million users and partnering with thousands of retail brands, setting the stage for major venture financing to scale its product and market presence.
In January 2026, Phia announced the successful closing of a $35 million Series A funding round, a milestone that values the company at approximately $185 million and underscores investor confidence in its vision for an “AI alignment layer” between brands and consumers in e-commerce. The round was led by Notable Capital, a venture firm known for backing high-growth technology companies, and included participation from Khosla Ventures, a major Silicon Valley investor with a broad portfolio, as well as returning support from Kleiner Perkins, an early backer of Phia from its seed stage.
Phia’s AI shopping platform integrates directly into users’ online shopping experiences through its mobile app and browser extension, providing real-time insights to help consumers discover personalized recommendations, resale alternatives, and smarter purchase decisions. The company’s proprietary technology processes billions of products daily and has shown strong adoption with both consumers and brand partners, with reported usage metrics revealing rapid growth in engagement and commerce impact within its first ten months on the market.
Prior to the Series A, Phia raised an $8 million seed round in September 2025 led by Kleiner Perkins, alongside notable individual and celebrity investors. This seed financing included backing from Hailey Bieber, Kris Jenner, Sara Blakely, Michael Rubin, Desiree Gruber, and Sheryl Sandberg, reflecting broad interest from both traditional venture capital and high-profile entrepreneurial figures in the startup’s early development.
The seed capital was used to expand the company’s engineering, AI research, product, and marketing teams while developing key aspects of Phia’s intelligent agent that automates price comparisons, resale evaluations, product summarization, and price-drop tracking across millions of listings. Shortly after launch, the platform had already amassed hundreds of thousands of users and secured thousands of direct brand partnerships, illustrating strong market traction that laid the groundwork for follow-on funding.
Phia co-founder Phoebe Gates, who has also drawn attention as the daughter of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates (who has publicly supported the venture), and her co-founder Sophia Kianni, have positioned the company at the intersection of AI and consumer commerce, aiming to redefine how people discover and purchase products online. The startup’s focus on delivering AI-powered, personalized shopping experiences taps into growing demand for smarter, more efficient e-commerce tools as consumers increasingly seek intelligent recommendations and real-time decision support.
The Series A funding is earmarked to accelerate product innovation, particularly advancing Phia’s machine learning infrastructure and building out real-time, taste-aware LLM agents that predict user preferences and tailor recommendations dynamically. The company also plans to deepen integrations with retail partners, enhance its analytics and dashboard offerings for brands, and expand its global team to support growth across engineering, consumer insights, and strategic partnerships.
Investor Hans Tung of Notable Capital, a leading figure in the round, emphasized the strategic importance of Phia’s approach to understanding consumer intent and trust in the context of AI-driven commerce, signaling confidence that Phia’s model can fundamentally shift how online shopping operates by mediating between shoppers and products in real time. With participation from seasoned investors like Khosla Ventures and Kleiner Perkins, the funding reflects broad belief in Phia’s ability to build a category-defining platform in the rapidly evolving landscape of AI-enhanced consumer technology.
As Phia continues to scale, its investor base bridges traditional venture capital, growth-oriented firms, and celebrity backers, offering not only capital but strategic perspectives across consumer trends, user experience design, and brand engagement. With strong early usage growth, an expanding brand partnership network, and deepening AI capabilities, Phia’s funding trajectory highlights the growing investor enthusiasm for consumer AI applications that deliver tangible value to both users and businesses alike.
