If your funder is even vaguely competent, they'll know that "patent pending" means extremely little. It could mean that you hired a law firm to prepare a solid patent application, but it could equally well mean that you scribbled something on a napkin, slapped a cover sheet on it, and mailed it to the patent office.
They might want to see a copy of the patent-application, which you might be willing to show them under a non-disclosure agreement.
If you want to sell an idea to an investor it is not unreasonable that they would demand to know what exactly the idea is, which is best communicated by letting them see the patent application. No?
Agreed, mostly. For some investors, it's just a check box item, and they won't look into it any more. But they are competent. It's just not a high priority for them.
