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The reason there's no interest is because the primary concern for investors like YC is generating a high return on investment. No matter what feel-good stuff Sam Altman might say about YC's goals in basic income research or other non-profit initiatives, at the end of the day, they have to deliver returns to their LPs.

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But Governments can. They are already spending billions of dollars and a major chunk of that goes wasted due to inefficiency, corruption, red-tape etc. The kind of stuff that big organisations like IBM or HP had that startups came and disrupted by being more efficient and nimble. Imagine if Governments can setup and run a transparent organisation like YC whose sole purpose is to promote startups in those important areas like environment conservation and clean energy without worrying about profit.

I can imagine that many startups and founders are willing to let go of their unicorn dream and jump aboard (including me).

This is a correct description of the current situation. But maybe we never explored it? Many fields which were not considered good investment opportunities, are now bringing nice returns.

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