Hamet Watt, co-founder of MoviePass, is moving forward from the company’s infamous downfall and is currently raising funds for a new venture studio aimed at developing and financing startups.
Watt, who launched MoviePass in 2011 with the concept of offering moviegoers unlimited access to theaters for a monthly fee, is now focusing on his new venture, Share Ventures. He revealed to Business Insider that the company has already secured nearly $20 million in funding from prominent backers including Alphabet and Amazon. The venture will concentrate on startups within the realms of future work and longevity.
Watt believes that the combination of the AI boom and rising interest rates has created an opportunity for a distinct venture capital model. To innovate, Share Ventures plans to develop its own software and advanced language models to streamline its internal processes. He expressed that less capital is required to identify promising opportunities, allowing for earlier signals regarding potential investments. “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,” he stated.
According to Watt, while many venture firms are investing in new technologies, they are not effectively utilizing them. “Using novel data and automation in our process is something we think is uniquely special to us,” he added.
His interest in health and longevity has personal roots; Watt lost his mother at the age of 25. Experiencing such a loss at a young age shifted his perspective on 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 reflected.
Watt’s experiences at MoviePass, which he recently discussed in the HBO documentary “MoviePass, MovieCrash,” have only fueled his desire to continue innovating. He remarked, “What have I learned, and what do I have the guts to go out now and try — and maybe fail, but maybe succeed?”