Hamet Watt, co-founder of MoviePass, is moving forward from the company’s notable decline and is now seeking investment for a new venture studio aimed at developing and funding startups.
Watt, who launched MoviePass in 2011 with the groundbreaking concept of allowing moviegoers to pay a monthly subscription for unlimited theater access, is now focused on his new company, Share Ventures. In an interview with Business Insider, he revealed that Share Ventures has raised nearly $20 million in funding from notable backers such as Alphabet and Amazon. The company’s primary focus will be on startups within the future of work and longevity sectors.
Watt believes the current climate of high interest rates and an AI boom has created an opportunity for a distinct approach in venture capital, which is why Share Ventures is working on creating its own software and advanced language models to streamline its internal processes. He emphasized the advantages of smaller funds in identifying opportunities early with minimal capital investment. “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 stated.
He noted that while many venture firms are pouring money into new technologies, they are not fully integrating these innovations into their operations. “Using novel data and automation in our process is something we think is uniquely special to us,” he added.
Watt’s interest in health and longevity is personal. He lost his mother at the young age of 25, when she was just 49 years old. This experience has influenced his perspectives on life and death. “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 remarked.
Reflecting on his experiences with MoviePass, which he openly discussed in the documentary “MoviePass, MovieCrash,” Watt expressed that the setbacks have only fueled his drive to innovate. “What have I learned, and what do I have the guts to go out now and try — and maybe fail, but maybe succeed?”