Phoebe Gates, 22, and Her Friend Sophia Kianni Reimagine Shopping with Digital Fashion Startup

Phia, set to launch in 2025, was created by the duo to make secondhand shopping and reselling easier and more informative

Phoebe Gates is following in her dad Bill Gates' entrepreneurial footsteps with the exciting news of her online fashion platform, Phia.

Following her graduation from Stanford University in June, the 22-year-old is focusing on her new sartorial tech venture, which she co-founded with her friend Sophia Kianni.

“Sophia and I are first-time founders, and learning as we go. With Phia’s beta, we’re building with our customers, so we can deliver a product that ultimately makes them the smartest shoppers in the room,” Phoebe tells PEOPLE exclusively of the new endeavor, which is currently in testing stages.

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Phia is a free Chrome extension disrupting the landscape of digital shopping and secondhand retail. The startup, which is seemingly geared to Gen Z shoppers who continue to look for sustainability and authenticity with the brands they shop, aims to inform shoppers on the future value of the products they buy online before they even hit “purchase” and assist customers with finding great deals on resale sites like eBay, Poshmark and Depop if they’re looking to go secondhand.

“Just a few months ago, this was a concept we were sketching out. Now, our beta is live, and I’m so excited to share it with you,” Phoebe wrote in a LinkedIn post on Nov. 21.

Related: Phoebe Gates Celebrates New Fashion Collab with Mom Melinda French Gates and Sister Jennifer

The platform will officially launch in 2025, but Phoebe shared on Substack that she and Sophia plan to incorporate users as much as possible while they fine-tune the details.

“If we want to create a product that makes you the smartest shopper in the room, we need you quite literally and figuratively IN said room from the start. Together, we’re gonna build something that changes the way we shop forever,” Phoebe wrote on Nov. 18.

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She also shared how she’s been feeling in this chapter of her career, which to her is a whole new world. According to her LinkedIn page, Phoebe interned at British Vogue for two months in 2022 before starting Phia in 2023.

“Starting a business isn’t for the faint of heart, and you don’t know what you don’t know…until you know. It's endlessly humbling, and a continuous process of learning—learning to manage people, myself, and most importantly, my own expectations. Every day feels like a new lesson in growth and knowing when to admit, ‘I don’t have all the answers,’ while asking myself: ‘Who can I learn from?’“ she wrote.

Phoebe noted that she’s been using Phia to shop her recent go-to essentials, like her favorite secondhand designer blazers (“My sister just had a baby, and you’d better believe I showed up to the hospital in my blazer,” she joked) and the high-end purses she's got her eyes on this season.

Get more details on Phia on joinphia.com

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