Earlier this year, Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni’s $185 million startup, Phia, faced allegations of “cookie stuffing,” following a Bloomberg investigation. However, there’s one person who wasn’t involved in the controversy: Gates’s mother, Melinda French Gates, who refused to invest in the business.
Last year, French Gates told the audience at E.l.f. Beauty’s Power of Women’s Sports Summit that she wouldn’t fund her daughter’s entrepreneurial endeavor.
“She got capitalized not because of my contacts, not because of me,” French Gates said, according to Fortune. “I wouldn’t put money into it,” she added.
The outlet added that French Gates saw investor rejection as an opportunity for personal development, something that might not happen if she gave her daughter the funding.
“That’s what I told her,” French Gates added. “She’s growing from this.”
Phia, the AI-powered shopping platform, was founded by Gates and her Stanford roommate Kianni. It launched in April 2025, nearly two months before French Gates’s comments at the London event.
Phia faces high-stakes accusations
The recent controversy surrounding Phia has put French Gates’s decision not to invest into the spotlight.
A Bloomberg investigation published earlier this summer made serious claims regarding Phia’s alleged cookie stuffing, accusing the co-founders of claiming credit for sales they did not drive. The outlet later reported that the founders were aware of the practices, according to internal company communications reviewed by Bloomberg.
The business has denied wrongdoing.
“In Phia’s short history, we have been fortunate to earn incredible and growing support from the customers who use our product every day to shop smarter and save money,” a Phia spokesperson told Inc. “One of Phia’s many features involved finding and displaying free coupons for shoppers and, in connection with that feature, placing an affiliate cookie. Following feedback from brand partners, Phia updated the coupon feature so that affiliate cookie placement now requires a shopper to click on the coupon pop-up. We’ve also done voluntary transaction reversals as a gesture of goodwill to our partners.
“In the two months since, we’ve rebuilt our codebase, hired a new head of compliance, and brought on senior leaders in partnerships and engineering. With stronger systems and oversight in place, we’re continuing to drive high-quality sales for thousands of brands,” the spokesperson added.
A greater purpose
As several outlets reported, French Gates emphasized that her decision was meant to serve a greater purpose. By raising funds on her own, Gates then 22, could demonstrate that Phia was a “real business,” French Gates said, with an earned investor class to prove it.
Although Gates may not have received funding from her own billionaire parents, another famous mother stood out as an early investor: Kris Jenner.
As Inc. previously reported, Jenner was one of several high-profile participants in Phia’s $8 million seed round in September 2025.
At the time, Jenner told People that she was “proud to be part of [Gates and Kianni’s] journey.”
Jenner’s family members, including Khloé Kardashian, joined her in investing in the startup.
“My mom has always had an eye for what’s next, so when Kris Jenner invests in something, I pay attention,” Kardashian told People.
Although French Gates may not have personally invested in her daughter’s startup, that didn’t appear to dampen its fundraising ability. Gates and Kianni ultimately raised more than $43 million for the venture.
Update, September 23, 2026: This article has been updated to include a statement from Phia.
—Victoria Salves
This article originally appeared on Fast Company’s sister website, Inc.com.
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