Is IP as important as business model execution for fundraising?

Having IP validates the premise that your idea is maturing through execution - that it has enough traction to where you have invested in its description, development and protection. Further, having an IP provides a method for ensuring continuation as the execution plan develops and the execution team perhaps fluctuates. Having said that, there are many instance where IP holds little to no value spending on the vertical (i.e. software v. hardware v. embedded systems) and the lifecycle of the targeted market.

You cannot patent an idea, but you can in fact patent a product, system, method of manufacture, apparatus for manufacture, and the like. Having a patent, or at least a patent application, is usually a must for investors and funding - and when the patent issues, it provides you with exclusive rights to prevent others from making, using, or selling the patented device, method, or the like.