Your concerns are valid. Money talks, and some people have lots to talk with. Regardless of being developed on an open protocol, Angel investors pose the same threat to nostr as any other open source project: Monopoly of development resources. 

The difference with Nostr is really a subtle one. Because nostr is anchored in bitcoin and freedom tech, it’s respect for individual sovereignty has been front and center for all to see and hold high from the very beginning. Any altercation to this (eg: how user data is handled in the protocol) will simply not be tolerated by so many orange pilled.

The fact that developers, designers, advocates, and users alike are all invested in this freedom ethos, from day one and still today, is exactly what makes nostr different.  

Worthy of respect IMHO.