Not much call from the crow community to fund projects. If you can get the crows to contribute their shiny objects, you may be all set...
Seriously, I can't see anyone paying you to learn liferay. Crowdfunding doesn't work that way. Some bit of reputation is needed for folks to feel confident in your ability to deliver.
I guess, you can search Google for similar portlets, but I haven't seen it yet.
Anyway, if you have a good idea, it's good to get started with it and get familiar with the portal's API what you can use later for other projects as well.
