> How should they know your project is worth investing 500k? I heard they've got 3x8M, per year I presume, so 500k is a huge chunk of that. Everyone thinks their project is worth 500k, what makes yours different from the rest?

Well that's the job of VCs, that's what they're expert at.

There's also another model where established industrial communities set up research centers to fund projects that might help their common problems.