Biography Flash: Sophia Kianni's AI Shopping App Phia Hits 500K Users After $8M Funding from Hailey Bieber and Kris Jenner cover art

Biography Flash: Sophia Kianni's AI Shopping App Phia Hits 500K Users After $8M Funding from Hailey Bieber and Kris Jenner

Biography Flash: Sophia Kianni's AI Shopping App Phia Hits 500K Users After $8M Funding from Hailey Bieber and Kris Jenner

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 Sophia Kianni Biography Flash a weekly Biography.

In the past few days, Sophia Kianni has been making waves as the co-founder of Phia, an AI-powered shopping assistant that is quickly becoming one of 2025’s buzziest tech stories. According to TechCrunch, Sophia and her cofounder Phoebe Gates took the stage at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco just over a week ago to share insights on building Phia into a durable consumer brand and translating viral buzz into long-term market influence. Sophia, already well-known for her activism with Climate Cardinals and as the youngest UN climate adviser in US history, is now at the center of Gen Z’s intersection between conscious consumerism and AI.

Fortune reports that Phia, launched in April 2025, has already signed up half a million users and works with over 5,000 direct brand partners. The startup just closed an $8 million seed round led by Kleiner Perkins, with high-profile backers including Hailey Bieber, Kris Jenner, Sheryl Sandberg, and Spanx’s Sara Blakely. According to Fortune, this positions Phia—and Sophia herself—as key players in the future of online shopping, with the U.S. e-commerce apparel market surpassing $200 billion this year and young shoppers increasingly seeking deals, value, and sustainability. Sophia has emphasized Phia’s integration with over 150 second-hand platforms, highlighting how buying pre-owned fashion can reduce users’ carbon footprints by up to 80 percent, a point she reiterated at the Disrupt stage.

Speaking on Phia’s rapid rise, Sophia has explained to Cheddar and others that the app and browser extension let users compare prices—including for resale—and even estimate item resale value, so shopping becomes both smarter and more eco-conscious. As featured in TechCrunch and Fortune, Phia’s viral success is also fueled by community: Sophia and Phoebe host dozens of power users in their office biweekly to get candid feedback on the platform, and they’ve launched their own podcast, The Burnouts, as part of Alex Cooper’s Unwell Network. Their candid storytelling on social media and in the press has further amplified Sophia’s profile this week.

Business activities aside, Sophia continues to promote the bridge between activism and tech entrepreneurship. There are no reports of major controversies or rumored splits at Phia, nor any unconfirmed developments around her personal life, as of today. Social media mentions have remained positive, with particular attention on Sophia’s advocacy for sustainability—Forbes and BBC have recently spotlighted her influence.

If you missed her TechCrunch Disrupt appearance or the Term Sheet podcast episode on Phia’s journey, both are essential to understand how Sophia is defining the future of digital shopping. That’s the latest on Sophia Kianni—thanks for listening. Subscribe to never miss an update on Sophia Kianni, and for more great Biographies, just search the term Biography Flash.

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