Phia

Phia is an AI-powered digital shopping assistant that helps consumers find the best prices on fashion items by comparing new and secondhand options. Launched in April 2025, the company offers a free iOS app and browser extension that works across more than 40,000 retailers and resale sites. Users can scan an item and receive real-time data on whether the price is fair, high, or typical, while also seeing lower-priced alternatives.

The company was co-founded by Phoebe Gates, daughter of Bill and Melinda Gates, and Sophia Kianni, who met as roommates at Stanford University. The idea for Phia grew out of their shared frustration with the time-consuming process of finding the best deals on secondhand clothing across multiple websites. Gates, a social impact and women's health advocate, and Kianni, an Iranian-American social entrepreneur and founder of the climate nonprofit Climate Cardinals, decided to create a solution after taking a generative AI entrepreneurship class. Their respective backgrounds in social activism influence Phia's emphasis on sustainable shopping by promoting the purchase of secondhand goods.

Phia operates on a B2C model, serving online shoppers, particularly Gen Z consumers who are tech-savvy and interested in sustainable fashion. The service is free for users, with revenue generated through an affiliate model; Phia earns a commission from its retail and resale partners when a user makes a purchase through a link on the platform. The platform has partnerships with over 5,000 brands and more than 150 resale marketplaces, including The RealReal, Poshmark, and eBay, and features one of the largest secondhand fashion databases in the U.S. with over 300 million indexed items. Phia's core features include a "Should I Buy This?" button for instant price analysis, alerts for price drops, and insights into an item's potential resale value. The company is headquartered in New York City.

Keywords: AI shopping assistant, fashion technology, price comparison tool, secondhand fashion, resale market, sustainable shopping, e-commerce tool, browser extension, mobile shopping app, deal finder, online shopping, circular economy, fashion deals, price transparency, resale value, Phoebe Gates, Sophia Kianni, Gen Z consumer, affiliate marketing, smart shopping