The funding would be for driving the development of the application further, and not to "keep me eating". Right now "it screams" single developer all over. I agree that the app needs validation.
About a month ago I've put Mailchimp signup forms on my website - to see if there is any interest in the app. This is not ideal however, without a demo of the app (sign up for what?)
Proof that people actually want/need the service - yes, this is a good point, I am still trying to figure out how to validate this without having a finished product... Thanks!