The co-founder of MoviePass is moving on from the company’s spectacular crash and raising money for a new venture studio aimed at developing and funding startups.
Hamet Watt, who co-founded MoviePass in 2011, has been hard at work on his new company, Share Ventures. The venture studio has already secured nearly $20 million in funding from backers including Alphabet and Amazon. Share Ventures is focusing on startups in the future of work and longevity sectors.
Watt believes the current AI boom and high interest rates have made the venture capital environment ripe for a unique model. Share Ventures is developing its own software and using complex language models to automate internal processes, allowing for earlier signals on opportunities with much less capital.
“You don’t need as large of funds, and you can get signal on an opportunity much earlier with much less capital,” he told Business Insider. “For us, that’s a great thing because we’re building companies from scratch and using all of the most advanced tools to do that proactively.”
Watt emphasized that while many venture firms invest in new technologies, they do not always apply them internally. Share Ventures aims to be different by incorporating novel data and automation in its processes.
Watt’s interest in health and longevity was sparked by the loss of his mother when he was just 25 years old. This personal experience has driven his focus on longevity and health-related startups.
Reflecting on his experience with MoviePass, Watt mentioned that the failure only motivated him to continue innovating. He discussed his learnings and his drive to keep pursuing new ventures in the documentary “MoviePass, MovieCrash.”
“What have I learned, and what do I have the guts to go out now and try — and maybe fail, but maybe succeed?” he said.