TRL (Technology Readiness Level)
A 1-to-9 scale rating how far a technology stands from proven deployment, born at NASA and now standard in deeptech diligence.
Technology Readiness Levels grade a technology’s maturity from TRL 1 (basic principles observed) to TRL 9 (system proven in operation). NASA developed the scale for spaceflight hardware; the European Commission adopted it across Horizon programs, an ISO standard (16290) codified it for space systems, and deeptech investors and grant agencies now use it as a shared shorthand for “how far from the real world is this”.
The bands that matter in practice: TRL 1-3 is research (principles, concepts, first proof of concept); TRL 4-6 is the lab-to-prototype climb where most quantum startups live and most deeptech funding concentrates; TRL 7-9 is demonstration to deployment. Each transition is a derisking event, and the expensive ones are rarely where outsiders expect: in quantum, the integration steps (TRL 5-6), where components that each worked must work together cold, shielded and stable, routinely consume more capital and calendar than the original physics.
Used honestly, TRL is a communication device, not a vanity metric: state the system-level TRL, show the per-subsystem breakdown, and attach evidence to the claimed level (what was demonstrated, in what environment, witnessed how). That one table preempts the most common technical diligence dispute and signals that the team knows the difference between a result and a product.
TRL is where the technical roadmap meets the financial one: investors map TRL transitions to rounds and price the derisking each level buys, and grant programs gate or screen eligibility on TRL bands (the EIC explicitly, NRC IRAP and peers in practice), so the claimed level drives both equity and non-dilutive money. The quantum-specific trap is component-versus-system inflation: a TRL 6 laser inside a TRL 3 architecture is a TRL 3 system, and a deck claiming otherwise hands technical diligence its first finding.
TRL 4 is a breadboard validated in the lab; TRL 6 is a representative prototype demonstrated in a relevant environment; TRL 8 is a complete, qualified system. A seed-stage quantum hardware company typically stands at TRL 3 to 4; claiming TRL 6 on the strength of one mature subsystem is the inflation a reviewer checks for first.
From definition to decision
Model this in your own round, scenarios, dilution and runway, in the founder workspace.