I'm surprised that VC hasn't been banging down Colin's door.
Probably they either aren't aware of tarsnap or they aren't sufficiently technically inclined to be able to try using tarsnap for themselves. :-)
That said, I have had some inquiries; but my response so far has always been that at the moment, for the small amount of money which I could usefully apply, funding would be more of a distraction than it would be worth.