If you study the potential of the bitcoin protocol and it is very clear that the power of the platform is currently vastly underutilised. Yes there are built in contracts, escrow, and other complex operations, but these are barely utilised, in spite of them being desperately needed by the bitcoin community and ecosystem.
I don't know the developers and I'm not technically qualified to say for sure, but the next years Google could look just like this.
One of the interesting things about buying/mining any coin is that you not only get the value of the coin and the ability to spend it, but also it is a share in the business of the coin, much like a stock market share. Why complain about them raising 20million when you'd prefer it was 2 million.

Clearly bitcoin is going to be big business - if you want to win it makes sense to be well funded, or you'll get squashed by the next guy.

Time will tell if these guys succeed or crash, but this should be looked at as more than a speculative currency investment - it is taking a stake in the development of a promising new technology.

Personally I'm bullish about bitcoin, but not (just) as a speculator. I'm bullish about the protocol and how it is going to impact the future.

I see bitcoin as being on par with social media or the internet. We are at the very start, but its the programming and contract potential that will be the long term value. The currency aspect will be important, but that's just a special use case of something much more powerful. I've got a lot more interest in what these guys are doing than the next Dogecoin, that's for sure!

As to the people who said "they aren't even going to build the apps for you!" - that's like complaining that the internet sucked as an invention because it didn't have facebook yet.