BRL : Business Readiness Level

Written by Isabelle Chéry and Gaëlle Calvary
 
The transfer of an innovation to the socio-economic environment is by nature risky. The risk is multi-factorial. It is measured according to different scales of innovation maturity. Classically, in the context of the valorisation of an innovative research result, it is necessary to control the level of technological maturity measured on the TRL scale. In an articulated manner, it is crucial to ensure a market maturity, symmetrically denoted BRL (Business Readiness Level) to “de-risk” the market penetration of the innovation. Indeed, by considering only the TRL scale, there is a risk of finalising a technology that does not respond to any “market” problem, thereby de facto destroying any possible market launch. Therefore, it is necessary to reconcile the Technology and Market maturities in order to place oneself in conditions of success for technology transfer.

The BRL scale adopts a market perspective on innovation by estimating the project team’s ability to steer the innovation (from idea to product) for the best market fit. Technological and market maturity are measured on scales of 1 to 9, to be worked on jointly to reconcile Technology and Market concerns. To put it simply:

• BRL 1 to 3: Identification of solved problems and major potential fields of application. These levels correspond to TRL 1 to 3 of technical feasibility.
• BRL 4 to 6: Market segmentation and strategic positioning choices. These levels correspond to TRL 4 to 6 of proof of concept.
• BRL 7 to 9: Market launch. These levels correspond to TRL 7 to 9 of pre-production.

Positioning the innovation on both the TRL and BRL scales is important to give confidence to funders (Carnot Institute, CNRS Pre-maturation, IDEX Innovation Grant project, SATT...). The FRL scale for Funding Readiness Level is even put forward to determine the confidence of investors in fundraising: it integrates TRL and BRL, as well as the team's convincing capacity through quality presentations.

Grenoble INP supports you in your development projects for effective maturity increases.

Contact:  drive.valorisation@grenoble-inp.fr