They are trying to accomplish something that would be really powerful to the crypto space, and doing so without releasing a token. This is really impressive, even if the project loses speed.
I admire their journey and honesty, but without the proper finances it's a gamble regardless of the problems they try to solve, therefore I don't rule out that they eventually will come up with a token to boost their finances.
Another possibility is that they receive donations from the community, but for that to happen you need to deliver at least something. It's not enough to work on something that we all like when it doesn't grow further than just an idea.
I understand the dislike of projects launching tokens left and right, but that at least motivates them to deliver and keep working. We have seen how the bear market bankrupted hundreds of projects because they were broke.
Both of the founders have made a lot of sacrifices in order to work on the project which is all of the motivation that they will need.