Against all odds, Phoebe Gates has managed to raise $35 million for a browser extension, despite the pernicious disadvantage of being Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates’ daughter.
In an episode of Yahoo Finance’s podcast Opening Bid Unfiltered, the younger Gates complained about the chip weighing on her shoulder, saying that she’s been determined to win over investors without rubbing her family dynasty in their face.
“I have a chip on my shoulder,” Gates said, adding that she wants “no ties to my privilege or my last name.”
Her company, Phia, just raised $35 million in capital, earning it an eye-watering valuation of $185 million. It’s pitched as an AI shopping extension that finds cheaper versions of things you’re looking for online — like a coupon code website that seeks out deals on your behalf.
“Our target consumer is a young woman who’s hustling,” Gates, who has presumably never experienced an actual financial incentive for thrifty shopping, told Fortune. “She shops like a genius, but she doesn’t want to waste her time doing it.”
The 23-year-old can’t seem to shake the chip metaphor.
“The chip on my shoulder is not only proving myself but building something, you know, novel and unique that consumers actually love,” she said.
As Fortune reports, none of the money for Phia came from Gates’ parents. Instead, she’s focusing entirely on outside capital. (The elephant in the room, of course, is her last name, which she hasn’t exactly taken pains to hide.)
Gates does at least partially demur to the fact that no billionaire is self-made: “From my dad I’ve really learned that your team is the core of what you’re building,” she said. “You can’t do anything without an incredible team.”
Still, privilege is more than just a cash injection at the launch of a startup. It takes many forms: elite education, a prestigious network, never having to worry about where your next rent check will come from, nevermind scoring deals as a backdoor way to buy favor with her dad.
While it’s an admirable gesture to wave off mom and dad’s fortune in the initial fundraising, investors can still take comfort in her name should the AI company fail. That would be the ultimate test — not whether Gates takes a handout during the honeymoon phase, but whether she can take a beating should things turn for the worst, without deploying her golden parachute. As with every other harebrained AI startup, time will tell.
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The post Bill Gates’ Daughter Says Her $185 Million AI Startup Will Succeed Entirely Due to Her Merits, Not Even a Little Bit Who Her Dad Is appeared first on Futurism.
