The reason that CIA contact at any point is significant is that, unlike an ordinary investment house, US intelligence agencies as a matter of course act to keep their activity secret. It stands to reason that this implies that any visible CIA involvement would indicate much invisible involvement by The Agency - and various ex-CIA agents who've gone public have basically confirmed this.

So getting funding from the CIA really is different from other thing - possibly. But the situation of all this not being known and being officially concealed produces a lot of paradoxes.