The not-so-subtle implication that there is a causal relationship between design and success is totally unproven. In general, ascribing success to one factor is always a bad idea. And of course, success = funding is a different matter altogether.
In a practical sense, however, startups that are fundraising and which have design chops should use this type of data/meme to their advantage by talking about design as if it actually has a causal relationship with success. Use pattern matching to your benefit.