SC funding has nothing to do with Angel Investors.
It is all about gamers spending money on JPEGS in the hope of getting a game at the end of it.
"They" use the term investor as a way of distancing themselves from the fact they (know they) have spent too much money on a game that hasn't been released.
They also imagine that the money they have spent is going to afford them an in game advantage not least because CRoberts has been telling them they will get special treatment by way of owning rare ships or benefit from rare features like LTI.
Even people indulging in the idea that their Star Citizen spending is "a hobby" are deluding themselves - particularly at this point.
You don't get people referring to pre ordering a AAA game as making an "investment" even though getting into an MMORPG early does indeed often confer some advantage.
Nor do people refer to buying extra pre order content such as Collectors edition in game items as an "investment".
Agreed. Also, those with a passing command of the English language, know what they mean by "invested" when referring to their backing/pledge. It's pretty much the same one could say "I'm invested in my education". On the other hand, a bunch of dumb asses then take that ball and run it off a cliff by referring to themselves as investors - just because they have lots of money in the project.
Backers are not investors, unless and until they have an investment agreement (like Mike Nightingale aka Bootcha) with CIG or one of its companies.
Money put into the project, can be called whatever they want (pledge, donation, charity etc), but it doesn't matter because according to the law, they're paying for a product and, unlike investors (who have to accept risk on ROI), expect a product in return.
The only investors we know of, are the original angel investors (e.g. like Bootcha), and other late stage investors who probably didn't cash out like Bootcha.
Banks who lend them money, are not investors - they are lenders who hold collateral (e.g. the NatWest and Coutts loans in the UK) in exchange for the loans.