The co-founder of MoviePass, Hamet Watt, is moving forward from the company’s well-documented downfall and is seeking funds for a new venture studio dedicated to developing and financing startups.
Watt, who founded MoviePass in 2011 with the innovative concept of offering unlimited cinema access for a monthly subscription, revealed in an interview with Business Insider that he is working hard at his new initiative called Share Ventures.
This newly established company has attracted nearly $20 million in funding, supported by major investors like Alphabet and Amazon. Watt said that Share Ventures is particularly focused on startups within the realms of future work and longevity.
He believes that the current climate of high interest rates and the AI boom presents a unique opportunity for a “differentiated model” in venture capital, which is why Share Ventures is developing its own software, along with sophisticated language models, to streamline its internal operations. According to Watt, this approach allows for less reliance on large funds and quicker identification of promising opportunities with minimal capital investment.
“A lot of venture firms are investing in these new technologies, but they’re not really embodying and using them,” Watt noted, emphasizing the distinctive nature of his firm’s practices. He has a personal connection to the longevity sector, having lost his mother at the age of 25 when she was just 49. This loss has profoundly influenced his perspective on mortality and innovation, fueling his desire to push forward despite past setbacks.
Watt sees his experience with MoviePass, which he recently reflected on in the documentary “MoviePass, MovieCrash,” not as a failure, but as a vital lesson that motivates him to innovate and take risks anew.