When Phia‘s founders Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni determined to construct an AI startup, they focused an space they understood effectively: on-line procuring.
The founders, who met at Stanford after they had been randomly paired up as roommates, understood e-commerce as a result of that they had spent hours upon hours looking for the correct objects to develop their wardrobe. And AI, they realized, had the potential to assist folks uncover, store and purchase in new methods. In addition they realized that functionality was a market alternative.
“There felt like there was this giant white space for, like, what should we actually buy, and why doesn’t everyone have a personal shopper in their pocket?” stated Gates on stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 on Tuesday.
The startup emerged from a category mission the place it proved its preliminary demand. However the service didn’t launch to the general public till Phia discovered the correct product-market match, Kianni says.
The software, out there as a browser extension and app, lets buyers examine costs, together with for second-hand objects, including a sustainability issue to the procuring expertise.
Phia says it integrates with greater than 150 second-hand platforms, and has over 350 million objects in its in-house search database. Kianni identified that purchasing second-hand represents an 80% discount in carbon footprint, in contrast with shopping for new. Plus, it’s cheaper.
Kianni stated the service additionally helps customers perceive the worth of what they’re shopping for. “If you’re looking at a $500 handbag on Phia, you can quickly understand, can you resell that item for $300 or $400? Or, on the contrary, if it’s a fast-fashion piece and you’re buying it for $100 bucks, is it only reselling for $10? Does it immediately depreciate and lose 90% of its value?”
The startup can be growing an AI procuring advisor that may assist customers perceive worth components like a great deal, or what an merchandise’s retained worth could also be, in addition to trend fundamentals like whether or not the merchandise will match primarily based on the consumer’s earlier orders and returns. The founders stated the sizing insights characteristic is presently in beta with a small group of customers.
The founders have used quite a lot of ways to draw an viewers, together with an envoy program, making their very own content material concerning the product’s improvement, and even beginning a podcast.
“The ability to acquire hundreds of thousands of downloads at a very low cost through the podcast and the various different distribution vehicles has been really important,” stated Kianni.
Plus, Gates stated, sharing the realities of constructing a startup with their viewers helped Phia’s potential customers join with the founders and their story.
“I think there was a bit of an ego death that we had to go through,” Gates stated. “At first, it’s like, ‘I want to look good in all of our content.’ But if you want people to engage with it, and you want to make content at the volume that we need to, you need to be able to just pull back the curtain.”
Gates, whose dad is sure, that Gates, acknowledges that she’s come to the startup expertise from a place of privilege, however says they don’t essentially go to him for recommendation.
“So, while my dad — I think he’s a genius — he’s not the one shopping on Phia, right? Like, he’s not hunting for the best deal across different sites. He’s not comparing his wish list items for his spring break trip,” she stated.
