The co-founder of MoviePass is moving beyond the company’s dramatic failure and is now raising funds for a new venture studio aimed at developing and supporting startups.
Hamet Watt, who co-founded MoviePass in 2011 with the concept of allowing moviegoers to pay a monthly fee for unlimited theater access, has revealed he has been diligently working on Share Ventures. This new venture studio has raised nearly $20 million, with backing from major companies such as Alphabet and Amazon. Share Ventures is focusing on startups in the future of work and longevity sectors.
Watt believes the AI boom and high interest rates have created a ripe environment for a “differentiated model,” which is why Share Ventures is developing its own software along with advanced language models to automate its internal processes, according to Business Insider.
“You don’t need as large of funds, and you can get signal on an opportunity much earlier with much less capital,” Watt told the publication. “For us, that’s a great thing because we’re building companies from scratch and using all the most advanced tools to do that proactively.”
Watt pointed out that while many venture firms are investing in new technologies, they are not fully integrating and utilizing them in their operations. “Using novel data and automation in our process is something we think is uniquely special to us,” he added.
He became interested in health and longevity after losing his mother at the age of 25; she was only 49 when she passed away. “When you lose your mom at a young age, it forces you to think about your own mortality in a way that I don’t know that I was conscious of at the time,” Watt explained.
Despite the failure of MoviePass, which he recently discussed in the documentary “MoviePass, MovieCrash,” Watt remains driven to continue innovating. He reflected, “What have I learned, and what do I have the guts to go out now and try — and maybe fail, but maybe succeed?”