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*By Ary Silveira Bueno<\/p>\n*By Ary Silveira Bueno<\/p>\n
TRLs or Technology Maturity Levels are a widely used rating scale to measure the degree of maturity of a technology, from the conception phase to commercialization. This scale, which ranges from 1 to 9, is often used to assess the stage of development of startup technologies, especially in highly innovative sectors such as aerospace, biotechnology, energy, and others. Let's take a quick look at each of them:<\/p>\n
Application of TRLs to startups<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022 Initial TRLs (1-3):<\/strong> Early research and development phase, where startups are testing concepts and trying to validate their ideas. Startups in incubators and research centers are usually at these levels.<\/p>\n \u2022 Intermediate TRLs (4-6):<\/strong> prototype development and testing phase in simulated environments. Startups in these phases are developing MVPs (Minimum Viable Products) and are seeking seed or venture capital investment.<\/p>\n \u2022 Advanced TRLs (7-9):<\/strong> operational testing and commercialization phase. Startups at this stage are usually ready for scalability, with mature products, and are seeking market expansion.<\/p>\n You TRLs<\/strong> help investors, researchers and stakeholders understand what stage a startup\u2019s technology is at and the degree of risk involved in its development. This metric is widely used by government agencies and innovation promotion organizations.<\/p>\n It should be noted that even TRL 9 startups may not yet be generating invoices (billing).<\/p>\n The nine levels of TRLs \u2013 Technology Readiness Levels<\/strong><\/p>\n Here are the nine levels of TRLs<\/strong> and what they mean in terms of developing a technology and\/or product:<\/p>\n TRL 1 \u2013 Basic principles observed and reported<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022 The research is at an early stage, and fundamental principles are being explored.<\/p>\n \u2022 There is no practical development yet, it is just the formulation of the idea or concept.<\/p>\n TRL 2 \u2013 Formulation of the technological concept<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022 The concept or application of the technology is being formulated.<\/p>\n \u2022 Research is more focused, and the potential of the idea is described, but there is still no concrete model.<\/p>\n TRL 3 \u2013 Experimental Proof of Concept<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022 The technology concept has already been validated by experiments and laboratory studies.<\/p>\n \u2022 Small tests are carried out to verify the viability of the concept in a controlled environment.<\/p>\n TRL 4 \u2013 Validation of component or system in a laboratory environment<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022 Basic prototypes are developed and tested in a laboratory environment to validate the functioning of the main components.<\/p>\n \u2022 The technology is still in a controlled development phase.<\/p>\n TRL 5 \u2013 Validation of component or system in relevant environment<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022 The technology prototype is tested under conditions that simulate its real use.<\/p>\n \u2022 The environment is already starting to be closer to reality, although it is still controlled.<\/p>\n TRL 6 \u2013 Prototype demonstration in a relevant environment<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022 Functional prototypes are developed and tested in a relevant operational environment, i.e. closer to final use.<\/p>\n \u2022 The focus is on practical demonstration of the technology on a relevant scale.<\/p>\n TRL 7 \u2013 System demonstration in an operational environment<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022 The complete system is tested in a real, operational environment.<\/p>\n \u2022 The technology is almost ready for the market, with only final adjustments remaining.<\/p>\n TRL 8 \u2013 Complete and qualified system<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022 The technology is already fully developed and has passed all necessary tests.<\/p>\n \u2022 There is proof that the product works in a real environment, ready to be launched commercially.<\/p>\n TRL 9 \u2013 System proven in operational and commercialized environment<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022 The technology is fully available for commercial use.<\/p>\n \u2022 The startup can now market the product, and the focus now is to scale the operation and seek incremental improvements.<\/p>\n I hope this content is useful for your company and your innovation projects.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n *Ary Silveira Bueno, Founder and Director of ASPR, Vice-President of the Instituto Brasil Digital<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Notice:\u00a0<\/strong>The opinion presented in this article is the responsibility of its author and not of ABES - Brazilian Association of Software Companies<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ary Silveira Bueno, Founder and Director of ASPR, Vice-President of the Instituto Brasil Digital<\/p>","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":82721,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[6381,6382],"class_list":["post-82720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artigos","tag-niveis-de-maturidade-tecnologica","tag-trls"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-12 23:25:42","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category"},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.abes.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.abes.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.abes.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.abes.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.abes.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82720"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dev.abes.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82720\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82723,"href":"https:\/\/dev.abes.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82720\/revisions\/82723"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.abes.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.abes.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.abes.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.abes.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}