{"id":1731,"date":"2026-06-26T10:36:40","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T10:36:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanhomejournals.com\/?p=1731"},"modified":"2026-06-26T10:36:40","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T10:36:40","slug":"the-new-place-to-advertise-your-celeb-filled-series-a-funding-round-is-a-nyc-bodega","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanhomejournals.com\/?p=1731","title":{"rendered":"The new place to advertise your celeb-filled Series A funding round is … a NYC bodega?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

A laundromat. A sushi roll chain. A neighborhood bodega with a billboard featuring a Coachella-esque lineup of celebs who invested in a fashion-meets-AI startup.<\/p>\n

Read more Anthropic salaries revealed: How much the AI juggernaut pays technical staff, product managers, and more<\/a><\/p>\n

These are all things you can find right now on Kenmare Street in Manhattan.<\/p>\n

Phia \u2014 the online shopping startup cofounded by Stanford grads Phoebe Gates (yes, the daughter of Bill Gates) and Sophia Kianni \u2014 is advertising its $35.5 million Series A funding round in the windows of Mott Corner, a deli and convenience store in Nolita.<\/p>\n

The blue-and-black ad showcases an “Investor Lineup,” including a who’s who of entertainment, media, and investing titans: Khosla Ventures, Khlo\u00e9 Kardashian, Mindy Kaling, Shaboozey, Bobbi Brown, Ice Spice, Jay Shetty, and even The Chainsmokers.<\/p>\n

Inside and around the bodega, the scene is far less glitzy.<\/p>\n

When Business Insider visited the shop, a group of construction workers in hard hats and neon-orange vests were eating lunch. The menu offered New York bodega staples, including chicken fingers and deli meat sandwiches.<\/p>\n

There were four rain-splattered white chairs \u2014 three plastic and one wood \u2014 chained to the side of the building. A rainbow-colored rolling ticker sign listed what customers could buy inside the shop: “WE HAVE SODA,” “breakfast, lunch, dinner,” and “CIGARETTES,” it read.<\/p>\n

The store manager said Phia’s ad had been up since mid-June. Other companies have advertised in the shop’s windows for years, the manager said, but nobody had ever asked him about the ads.<\/p>\n

Read more What smart people are saying about price hikes by Apple and Xbox<\/a><\/p>\n

Absent from Phia’s ad is any explanation of Phia’s consumer product.<\/p>\n

The startup, which has raised $43.5 million in two rounds, is positioning itself to consumers as a sustainability-minded AI tool for finding better prices and secondhand alternatives online. During a spot on “Good Morning America,” Gates and Kianni called the app a “companion that sits in your browser [that] answers the questions that every consumer asks: ‘Should I actually buy this?'”<\/p>\n

For fashion brands, the company says it “drives high-intent discovery and connects users to products from brands they’re most likely to buy from,” according to its website.<\/p>\n

Carol Spieckerman, a retail consultant, said the ad may look like a consumer-facing billboard, but she sees a more specific pitch.<\/p>\n

“This is business-to-business marketing masquerading as out-of-home advertising,” Spieckerman told Business Insider. “The audience isn’t random passersby; it’s decision-makers at brands and retailers who work in or frequent that neighborhood.<\/p>\n

“Phia is essentially saying: ‘Look at who believes in us,'” Spieckerman said.<\/p>\n

The ad caught the eye of at least one VC in the area.<\/p>\n

“Why is there a series A announcement on a deli in Nolita?” wondered Eniac Ventures founder Hadley Harris, who posted a photo of it on X.<\/p>\n

Read more How JPMorgan went from 3 female CEO contenders to an all-male succession race<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There’s a Coachella-like ad in NYC for the Series A round raised by Phoebe Gates’ startup, Phia. 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