Do you think that Kickstarter might be a solution? I am sure that there are plenty of people who would love to support your endeavour given your experience :)
It would be 'part' of the solution. In truth, KS is more of a marketing device than an actual dev funding mechanism as there's quite a gulf between what you can raise and what you really need. One day we'll make a demo with a couple of screens and see where it takes us... :)
