Anthony Rose and Ernesto Schmitt, the two founders of Beamly, have stepped back from the TV discovery app in favour of a new social media venture.
On its website UTD describes itself as “a brand new app that removes the friction in how people connect, by uncovering the common ground between them. It knows the shared experiences, passions, life choices and interests that bind, and it brings these to life to allow strangers that ought to be friends to find each other – and hit it off for 60 seconds or a lifetime.”
Although admitting he has been bitten by the social media bug, Rose says he is still very much a part of Beamly.
For those asking, yes, I'm very much still part of Beamly. Jason Forbes brilliant as CEO, numbers are up, I'm still co-founder & President.
— Anthony Rose (@anthonyrose) November 9, 2014
Rose was part of the team that created the BBC iPlayer, and before that was CTO at KazAa.Schmitt has built a string of technology companies, including as Chairman of Invision, which was acquired by Intel in 2012.
The two partners created Beamly, initially branded Zeebox, and now backed by BSkyB, Comcast, NBCUniversal and Viacom.