Sophia Kianni and Phoebe Gates met as Stanford roommates who bonded over fashion, climate advocacy, and secondhand shopping. Kianni had already gone viral during the pandemic by founding Climate Cardinals, a nonprofit that translated climate resources into over 100 languages. Gates, daughter of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates, had interned at British Vogue and was passionate about sustainable fashion, Forbes says.
Their original concept was a browser extension that made it easier to shop secondhand, inspired by the clunky user experience they'd encountered, Kianni told Forbes. One of their professors was so impressed that he gave them a $250,000 grant to get started.
