The ecosystem it creates, however, doesn't matter whether it's the former or latter. It drives out competition because VC's can make up the difference in a lack of profit.
Government interference in the market isn't socialism, it's regulation. It's not socialism when the government ensures that companies have to compete fairly amongst eachother, minimise environmental hazards, safety test pharmaceuticals or respect labour laws. Even anti-trust laws or price controls aren't socialist. They're collectivistic, because they look after the greater good, but so are charities, some churches and , ideally, the justice system. None of those are "socialist".
Socialism (and only the statist variety, at that) is when government owns (part of) the means of production, and not even always in those cases, either. The US postal service isn't "socialist", it's a state-run public service. NASA isn't "socialist", it's a government agency funded with public funds.