You’re supposed to have a vertical slice (i.e be feature complete) when applying, so realistically you should already be 12-18 months into development - getting an alpha build from there should be an entirely realistic goal. An investor isn’t going to put $300k into a developer if they don’t think they can get that return, so you need something to show, and you need to demonstrate capability to deliver the product in a timely manner - this is all fairly normal when dealing with any investment group. They’re not here to fund your entire project from zero, and aren’t going to even look at it until you have something decent to show - and they likely want to see proper business plans in place, and a business that is already established and operating. That’s just how this works.