I think that funding opens up doors to a next-phase of development for a lot of tech people who have previously been bootstrapping. In this light, it is a very logical "milestone" to be funded. The additional resources let us take development to the next level, from a product born out of passion to one which has the capacity to effect wider change. In traditional brick & mortar businesses, funding was a sort of "of-course" step... but now, in the software startup world, there are a lot of shades of gray. Being able to say that you're funded demonstrates a layer of "we're seriously striving for (and can reach) the next level of development."