The co-founder of MoviePass is embarking on a new venture following the company’s dramatic collapse, launching a studio aimed at developing and funding startups.
Hamet Watt, who co-founded MoviePass in 2011 with the groundbreaking idea of offering moviegoers unlimited theater access for a monthly fee, is now focused on Share Ventures. In an interview with Business Insider, Watt revealed that his new venture has already secured nearly $20 million in funding, with notable investors including Alphabet and Amazon. Share Ventures aims to concentrate on startups in the fields of future work and longevity.
Watt believes that the current environment, marked by an AI boom and elevated interest rates, presents a perfect opportunity for venture capital to adopt a “differentiated model.” To that end, Share Ventures is developing its own software and applying complex language models to automate internal operations.
He noted, “You don’t need as large of funds, and you can get signal on an opportunity much earlier with much less capital. 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 many venture firms are investing in new technologies without fully leveraging or embodying them in their processes. He stated, “Using novel data and automation in our process is something we think is uniquely special to us.”
His personal journey into health and longevity was shaped by the early loss of his mother when he was just 25 years old. Her passing at the age of 49 prompted him to reflect on his own mortality.
“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 said.
Watt’s experiences and the challenges faced with MoviePass, which he addressed in the documentary “MoviePass, MovieCrash,” have only fueled his desire to innovate further. He expressed, “What have I learned, and what do I have the guts to go out now and try — and maybe fail, but maybe succeed?”