They needed a seed pool of already vetted companies. This is extremely rational on their part, and probably helps their early funders make reasonable decisions.
The biggest concern I think one should have about this is that dumb companies will be paired up with dumb money at a much greater rate than great companies being paired up with lucky (or smart) money, making the whole concept look bad.
The biggest concern I think one should have about this is that dumb companies will be paired up with dumb money at a much greater rate than great companies being paired up with lucky (or smart) money, making the whole concept look bad.