Ask HN: Is someone manipulating the start up market?

[sunnysnews]

This is a highly speculative thesis, but I see a pattern and wonder:

Is the start-up market (perhaps subconsciously) manipulated by overvaluation?

Example: Start Up X gets a boost from Y. Y also has company W in their portfolio that rents office space. Y says to X that it should rent the rooms from W. Y is now not only an investor in W, but indirectly a customer of W. Artificially, prices are now being driven up because of a conflict of interest. As a result, W is said to be worth many times more than similar companies.

Am I alone who sees a bubble here?

I'm just a simple software developer. Please don't take my economic unknowledge amiss.

I just want to know what the community is thinking?