The co-founder of MoviePass is moving on from the company’s dramatic collapse and is now raising funds for a new venture studio aimed at developing and financing startups.
Hamet Watt, who launched MoviePass in 2011 with the concept of allowing moviegoers unlimited access to theaters for a monthly fee, shared with Business Insider that he has been diligently working on Share Ventures.
This new venture has attracted nearly $20 million in funding from investors, including technology giants Alphabet and Amazon. Watt explained that Share Ventures is primarily concentrating on startups that focus on the future of work and longevity.
He believes the current landscape, marked by an AI boom and elevated interest rates, has created an opportunity for a distinct venture capital model. This has led Share Ventures to develop its own software along with sophisticated language models to streamline internal operations.
Watt noted, “You don’t need as large of funds, and you can get signal on an opportunity much earlier with much less capital.” He sees this as advantageous as they are creating companies from the ground up using the latest technologies.
He observed that while many venture firms are investing in emerging technologies, they are not fully utilizing them in their operations. “Using novel data and automation in our process is something we think is uniquely special to us,” he stated.
Watt’s interest in health and longevity was sparked by the loss of his mother when he was just 25 years old. She passed away at the age of 49.
“Losing my mom at a young age forces you to reflect on your own mortality in a way that I wasn’t fully aware of at the time,” he shared.
Despite the setbacks faced with MoviePass, which he recently discussed in the documentary “MoviePass, MovieCrash,” Watt remains driven to innovate. He expressed a forward-looking mindset: “What have I learned, and what do I have the guts to go out now and try — and maybe fail, but maybe succeed?”