The co-founder of MoviePass is moving on from the company’s dramatic downfall and is raising funds for a new venture studio aimed at developing and financing startups.
Hamet Watt, who launched MoviePass in 2011 with the concept of offering unlimited theater access for a monthly fee, has been busy with Share Ventures. This new company has already secured nearly $20 million in funding from investors including Alphabet and Amazon. Watt indicated that the focus of Share Ventures will be on startups related to the future of work and longevity.
He believes that the current AI boom and elevated interest rates have created a favorable environment for a “differentiated model” in venture capital, prompting Share Ventures to develop its own software and utilize advanced language models for internal processes.
“You don’t need as large of funds, and you can get signal on an opportunity much earlier with much less capital,” Watt explained. “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 pointed out that many venture firms are funding new technologies but are not fully leveraging them in their operations. “Using novel data and automation in our process is something we think is uniquely special to us,” he noted.
His interest in health and longevity is personal, stemming from the loss of his mother at the age of 25 when she was just 49. “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,” he reflected.
Watt’s experiences with the failed MoviePass, which he addressed in the documentary “MoviePass, MovieCrash,” have only fueled his desire to continue innovating. “What have I learned, and what do I have the guts to go out now and try — and maybe fail, but maybe succeed?” he stated.