tying engagement to ROI is a pretty difficult. It falls into the larger attribution modeling issues that marketers run into. You can try to use affiliate links, but that can only measure webtraffic/last click conversions. it doesn't do a great job at identifying high assist channels similar to YouTube acquisition.
Capital and finance isn't evil. It is a tool, a unified currency to allocate resources. A tool is apathetic to the motivation of the hand that wields it.
Machines for logging = capital
labor = capital
software = capital.
A VCs business model is that of investing and profit. It's not altruistic, its a business. As such it is interested in profit. There are other methods to raise capital for a business but a VC may be a better option.