The co-founder of MoviePass, Hamet Watt, is moving forward from the company’s notable downfall and is now focused on raising funds for a new venture studio designed to develop and support startups.
Watt, who established MoviePass in 2011 with the concept of providing unlimited access to theaters for a monthly fee, has been actively working on his new company, Share Ventures. He revealed to Business Insider that the venture has already secured nearly $20 million in funding from investors including Alphabet and Amazon. Share Ventures plans to concentrate on startups related to the future of work and longevity.
Watt believes that the current landscape, marked by an AI surge and high interest rates, presents a ripe opportunity for a unique investment model. As a result, Share Ventures is developing its own software and complex language models aimed at automating 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. “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 added that many venture firms are investing in new technologies without fully integrating or utilizing them. “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 stems from a personal loss; he lost his mother at the age of 25 when she was only 49. This experience has shaped 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 downfall of MoviePass, which he recently addressed in the documentary “MoviePass, MovieCrash,” Watt expressed that his past failure only drives him to continue innovating. “What have I learned, and what do I have the guts to go out now and try — and maybe fail, but maybe succeed?” he pondered.