Unpopular opinion: Paul Graham and a generation of startups with Silicon Valley magical thinking has inculcated this belief that startups are the solution to everything. Don't get me wrong: startups have their place, but they're no panacea. Most of our problems are political and, more and more often now and moving forward, environmental.
But, yes, opening up funding to people of different socioeconomic backgrounds at different "risk" levels might lead to more innovation and entrepeneurship. So would a population of citizens who don't have healthcare tied to their job, childcare tied to their location or reliant upon wealth, and so forth. People who don't have to worry about bankruptcy due to an accident or disease, and people who can have their children taken care of during the day while they're off starting a company can focus more on a company and less on the risk of failing in everything else.
But, yes, opening up funding to people of different socioeconomic backgrounds at different "risk" levels might lead to more innovation and entrepeneurship. So would a population of citizens who don't have healthcare tied to their job, childcare tied to their location or reliant upon wealth, and so forth. People who don't have to worry about bankruptcy due to an accident or disease, and people who can have their children taken care of during the day while they're off starting a company can focus more on a company and less on the risk of failing in everything else.