The co-founder of MoviePass is moving on from the company’s notable downfall and is now raising funds for a new venture studio aimed at developing and supporting startups.
Hamet Watt, who co-founded MoviePass in 2011 with the concept of allowing moviegoers to pay a monthly fee for unlimited theater access, shared with Business Insider that he has been diligently working on his new company, Share Ventures.
The new venture has successfully secured nearly $20 million in funding, with notable investors including Alphabet and Amazon. Watt indicated that the focus of Share Ventures will be on startups related to the future of work and health longevity.
He believes the current climate of AI advancements and high interest rates has created an opportunity for a unique model in venture capital. Share Ventures plans to develop its own software and complex language models to streamline its internal operations, thereby allowing for early identification of opportunities with less capital investment.
“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 leveraging the most advanced tools available.”
Watt also noted that while many venture firms are investing in emerging technologies, they are not fully integrating or utilizing these innovations in their operations. “Using novel data and automation in our process is something we think is uniquely special to us,” he added.
Watt developed an interest in health and longevity after the early loss of his mother at the age of 49 when he was just 25. This personal experience has deeply influenced his perspective on mortality and innovation.
“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.
Reflecting on the failure of MoviePass, which he recently addressed in the documentary “MoviePass, MovieCrash,” Watt expressed that this experience has only fueled his desire 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?”