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Chert

iMessage infrastructure for trusted communication at scale

Y CombinatorSpring 2026ActiveB2BArtificial IntelligenceSaaSAPICustomer Support

What they do

Problem

Businesses lack scalable, trusted infrastructure to automate and manage customer conversations over iMessage.

Solution

Chert provides infrastructure that enables businesses to automate conversational messaging with end users via iMessage.

Who it's for

B2C startups and customer experience and sales teams that communicate with end users.

Founders

Gary Gao

Founder

Hi, I'm Gary, co-founder and CEO at Chert. We're providing the infrastructure for businesses to build conversational interfaces in iMessage. Before moving to SF last month, I studied CS and Business at Penn and spent the past year researching ML model architectures, designing neuromorphic chips, and building projects with my co-founder Ian. Outside of this, I like flying planes, running marathons, and reading!

LinkedIn · X

Ian Fong

Founder

My name is Ian. I'm building Chert, the conversational interface that lets teams send, receive, and automate conversation through our APIs. Before this, I studied Mathematics and CS/Economics at NYU, did fast algorithm research at Courant, and won 8 hackathons(including MIT, Harvard, Penn, Princeton) along the way. Outside of work, I run triathlons, play Go, and hit random hackathons with Gary. fun fact: I've lived in a total of 16 cities in 20 years of my life.

LinkedIn · X