Ian Fong is Co-Founder at Chert, a Y Combinator-backed company building iMessage infrastructure that enables businesses to automate conversations and outbound sales at scale.

Ian studied Mathematics and Economics at New York University, conducted fast algorithm research at the Courant Institute, and won 8 hackathons across MIT, Harvard, Penn, and Princeton before dropping out to build Chert.

A Z Fellow and prolific hackathon competitor, Ian brings a rigorous analytical foundation to solving one of the most underexplored channels in business communication: iMessage automation.

Alongside co-founder Gary Gao, Ian spent months building iMessage-based projects for leasing companies, DTC startups, and home service agencies before formalizing the infrastructure into Chert and joining YC Spring 2026.

Chert is already working with B2C startups, customer experience teams, and sales teams, achieving response rates up to 65% and action rates up to 90%, far surpassing traditional email and LinkedIn outreach benchmarks.