Yann LeCun to depart Meta and launch AI startup focused on 'world models'

I wonder, what LeCun wants to do is more fundamental research, i.e. where the timeline to being useful is much longer, maybe 5-10 years at least, and also much more uncertain.

How does this fit together with a startup? Would investors happily invest into this knowing not to expect anything in return for at least the next 5-10 years?