Hamet Watt, co-founder of the now-defunct MoviePass, is moving forward from the company’s notable collapse and is in the process of raising funds for a new venture studio aimed at developing and financing startups.
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Watt, who launched MoviePass in 2011 with the innovative model allowing moviegoers to pay a monthly fee for unlimited access to theaters, shared with Business Insider that he is diligently working at his new enterprise, Share Ventures.
This new venture has successfully secured nearly $20 million in funding, with prominent backers including Alphabet and Amazon. Watt stated that Share Ventures is concentrating its efforts on startups within the realms of future work and longevity.
He believes that the current boom in artificial intelligence and elevated interest rates have opened the door for a distinct venture capital model. Share Ventures plans to develop its own software alongside advanced language models to automate internal operations.
“You don’t need as large of funds, and you can get signal on an opportunity much earlier with much less capital,” Watt explained. He emphasized that this approach benefits their goal of building companies from scratch using cutting-edge tools.
Watt observed that many venture firms are investing in new technologies but are not fully utilizing them. “Using novel data and automation in our process is something we think is uniquely special to us,” he noted.
His interest in health and longevity was sparked by a personal tragedy—the death of his mother when he was just 25 years old, a loss that prompted him to reflect on his own mortality.
Watt, who recently spoke about his experiences with MoviePass in the documentary “MoviePass, MovieCrash,” expressed that the challenges from his previous venture have 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?” he said.