It depends on you and the idea but you've got a start. On that track you want something that has a critical mass of investors who understand your technology, i.e. if its a specialty chemical than you might not find anyone comfortable enough with the concept to invest. You also need to show the patent is defendable, that you can go from lab to sales in a reasonable amount of time, and that you have a $100M+ addressable market. If you don't have any business experience or training it might be worth bringing in an MBA type to be your CEO, even Brin and Page did that.
The sites listed here, Startengine, AngelList, Republic are all crowdfunding sites. You may have to create a fake account and say you're an accredited investor. I'd use them for research, but again if you've got an idea that good you might as well put together a business plan, get an in to a couple of VCs through your network (thesis advisor, other PhDs you knew in school...) and pitch your idea. A good VC will give you constructive feedback on your pitch even if they flat out reject you, so you'll get something out of it no matter what. As someone who's had a company with a large number of investors and one with a small number of investors, I can tell you it would be a nightmare to deal with 100s of investors when you want to do your second funding round or any major corporate move that required their consent, even if you remain the majority shareholder, so while VCs can be a pain at least you only need to deal with one or two.
The sites listed here, Startengine, AngelList, Republic are all crowdfunding sites. You may have to create a fake account and say you're an accredited investor. I'd use them for research, but again if you've got an idea that good you might as well put together a business plan, get an in to a couple of VCs through your network (thesis advisor, other PhDs you knew in school...) and pitch your idea. A good VC will give you constructive feedback on your pitch even if they flat out reject you, so you'll get something out of it no matter what. As someone who's had a company with a large number of investors and one with a small number of investors, I can tell you it would be a nightmare to deal with 100s of investors when you want to do your second funding round or any major corporate move that required their consent, even if you remain the majority shareholder, so while VCs can be a pain at least you only need to deal with one or two.