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iMessage infrastructure for trusted communication at scale
Chert provides the infrastructure for businesses to automate conversations over iMessage. We’re already working with B2C startups, customer experience teams, and sales teams to reach end users through trusted and conversational messaging.
Chert provides an iMessage infrastructure that enables building and deploying AI-driven interactions on iMessage at scale. It emphasizes trusted, end-to-end encrypted, real iMessage threads with a single API surface for integration and onboarding support from a YC-backed startup.
Chert sits between a team's tools and the customer's iMessage, exposing a REST API and webhooks for inbound and outbound events. It enables real iMessage threads with read receipts, tapbacks, attachments, and native iMessage UI, with SMS/RCS fallback when recipients aren’t on iMessage. It offers account-level identity rotation, per-identity caps to avoid throttling, live delivery telemetry, webhooks, and native CRM/tool integrations. It also provides onboarding assistance and optional native sync for common workflows (lead creation, meeting bookings, opt-outs) and supports integration with tools like Salesforce, HubSpot, Slack, and others through a single API surface.
Who it’s for: GTM/sales teams and product teams that need scalable, trusted iMessage interactions and AI-powered customer engagement.
YC-backed; mentions of onboarding, integrations, and product-focused features
My name is Ian. I'm building Chert, the infrastructure that lets teams send, receive, and automate iMessage conversations through our APIs. Before this, I studied mathematics and 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 still hit random hackathons with Gary for fun. fun fact: I've lived in a total of 16 cities in 20 years of my life.
Hi, I'm Gary, co-founder and CEO at Chert. We're building the infrastructure that lets teams send, receive, and automate iMessage conversations through APIs. 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!
Chert provides the infrastructure for teams to send, receive, and automate conversations over iMessage using APIs.
Chert provides APIs for teams to send, receive, and automate conversations over iMessage at scale. The platform integrates with calendars and CRMs to add logging and structure to customer communications while leveraging iMessage's high read rates and expressiveness.
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