Inside its new offices, Chain.io makes computers talk to each other

Brian Glick, the CEO of Center City-based Chain.io, only needs a few words to sum up what his company does, and why its pitch has made sense to clients.

“We solve a problem that people hate to deal with: getting computers to talk to each other well between companies,” said Glick, a 20-year veteran of the admittedly unsexy logistics industry who, with Chan.io, is onto his second venture. “When you start a company that does what people hate to do, they flock to your door.”

Founded in 2016, the company outgrew its three-person desk at Industrious to a larger hub at The Yard and, last month, it opened a 1,400-square-feet office all by itself at 1518 Walnut St., where it hosts a Philly team of 11. Alongside a sales office in Chicago, the bootstrapped company’s total headcount has grown to 20, a symbol of  appetite in the market for its software products.

(Glick, a member of Indy Hall since 2010, said the company still lists 399 Market as its mailing address because it’s “our ‘spiritual home’ and the place we formed our corporate culture.”)

So, uh, what is it they do again?

“The simplest way to explain it is we connect all of the systems between different companies involved in shipping and logistics, Glick said. “A package can touch hundreds of companies and thousands of systems on its way to its destination, and we’re kind of the plumbers between the different systems.”

Unless you’re in the shipping and logistics space, you won’t likely know the company’s clients by name, but one local customer is Old City-based logistics company BDP International.

“We’re not in healthcare, entertainment or media, so it’s kinda fun to build something here that’s a bit different and in an industry that’s not on top of everyone’s radar,” Glick said.