The co-founder of MoviePass is moving past the company’s dramatic downfall and is now raising funds for a new venture studio aimed at developing and financing startups.
Hamet Watt, who founded MoviePass in 2011 with the innovative concept of allowing moviegoers to pay a monthly fee for unlimited theater access, recently shared his efforts at Share Ventures with Business Insider.
The new venture has garnered nearly $20 million in funding from investors including Alphabet and Amazon. Watt indicated that Share Ventures is concentrating on startups within the realms of future work and longevity.
He believes that the current landscape, marked by an AI boom and elevated interest rates, presents an opportunity for a distinct approach in venture capital. To this end, Share Ventures is creating its own software and complex language models to streamline its internal processes.
Watt explained, “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.”
He noted that while many venture firms are investing in new technologies, they often do not actively incorporate and utilize them within their operations.
“Using novel data and automation in our process is something we think is uniquely special to us,” he added.
Watt’s personal motivations are influenced by a tragedy from his past; he became interested in health and longevity after the loss of his mother at the young age of 25, when she was just 49.
“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.
Despite the setbacks faced during his time at MoviePass, which he recently discussed in the documentary “MoviePass, MovieCrash,” Watt remains driven to innovate. He stated, “What have I learned, and what do I have the guts to go out now and try — and maybe fail, but maybe succeed?”