The actual facts were, total raised was under £500K. There was a much larger offer that fell apart what would have taken it over $1.5mm.
However, the monies were used as cashflow to keep the company going. It was not something to invest until BTC went sky high. All such pondering don’t tell us anything.
So this may be true, but not what happened, unfortunately, and if it had happened then the team would be much larger and grants much more common.