ichat Inc (sometimes written iChat Inc) was a company that created instant messaging software and associated technology for embedding chat rooms in web pages. The company was founded by Andrew Busey. ichat was also the name of their initial product.

Claims that Apple's iChat client was based on the company's technology appear unfounded.

[edit] Timeline

• August 1995 — Company founded
• May 15, 1996 — Rooms server software released
• June 28, 1996 — Company receives $4.5m in venture capital [1]
• January 17, 1997 — "Huge" deal with Yahoo! announced [2]
• January 23, 1997 — ichat teams with Netscape [3]
• June 1, 1998 — ichat renamed Acuity Corp in order to concentrate on the corporate market [4]
• September 13, 1999 — Acuity acquired by Quintus Corp [5]
• November 15, 1999 — Quintus floated on stock market
• February 22, 2001 — Quintus files for bankruptcy
• February 22, 2001 — Quintus's assets bought by Avaya [6]
• May 15, 2006 — Quintus dissolved [7]