Not really, it's an expensive and risky undertaking so only very wealthy investors or the state can afford this. That doesn't mean that the investors are a value add other than providing money. Furthermore, many publicly useful innovations will not be able to capture a positive return despite being beneficial for society as a whole, so private money is actually poison.
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If it's really easy that "anyone" can do it, wouldn't you expect investors to flood in and drive the cost of capital to near-zero?
Not really, it's an expensive and risky undertaking so only very wealthy investors or the state can afford this. That doesn't mean that the investors are a value add other than providing money. Furthermore, many publicly useful innovations will not be able to capture a positive return despite being beneficial for society as a whole, so private money is actually poison.