The science behind slow TRLs

Time is investment in deep-science innovation, where rigour and validation are non-negotiable.

Deep-science innovation typically means that science itself sits at the heart of the innovation journey. Unlike software products or consumer-facing commercial solutions that can be built, tested, and iterated quickly, deep-science innovation begins with a foundation of rigorous scientific research – often years of experimentation, laboratory work, and hypothesis-driven inquiry. At its core, it is not about creating a product first; it is about uncovering a fundamental scientific truth or breakthrough that can eventually solve a meaningful real-world problem.

These innovations emerge from science disciplines such as Materials Science, Biochemistry, Physics and Engineering – fields where progress depends on scientific validation, data, accuracy, and repeatability. Every step forward requires careful testing, controlled experimentation, and peer review. Only after the underlying science is proven, innovators build prototypes towards reducing it to a technology, validating and demonstrating performance in real environments, navigating certifications, and preparing the technology for commercial deployment.

In deep science, the idea cannot be rushed because the risks, complexity, and consequences of failure are significantly higher. The innovation must work reliably, not just in theory but in the real world, and must be capable of scaling.

Technology Readiness Level (TRL) exists to provide a clear, universal way to measure how ready a technology is for real-world use. Because scientific and engineering innovations mature at very different speeds, TRL offers a common framework that researchers, startups, incubators, funders, and industry can all use to understand where a technology stands – from early-stage concepts to deployment-ready solutions. It helps reduce risk for investors and partners by indicating whether an idea has only been validated in theory, tested in a lab, or proven in real-world conditions.

By breaking the journey from discovery to commercialisation into clear stages, TRL prevents premature market entry and ensures that technologies are scientifically sound, safe, and reliable before scale-up. It also aligns researchers and industry on expectations, making it easier to plan resources, funding, infrastructure, and mentorship at each stage. In essence, TRL exists to bring clarity, discipline, and accountability to the technology development process, ensuring that innovations mature responsibly and effectively from lab to market.

Deep-science innovation moves slowly through the TRLs and takes longer to reach the market. But this slow, deliberate, science-first approach is also what makes deep-science solutions transformative. They create disruptions that can redefine industries, strengthen national capabilities, and address humanity’s most critical challenges – from climate and health to energy, mobility, and space.

Deep-science ideas typically take 5-10 years to commercialise because they rely on proven scientific breakthroughs, extensive laboratory validation, multiple rounds of prototyping, regulatory approvals, and industrial-scale testing.

These are processes that cannot be rushed without compromising safety or reliability. For India to accelerate deep-science innovation, it needs a strong backbone of high-quality scientific infrastructure, patient capital that understands long gestation cycles, and specialised incubation ecosystems that can support TRL advancement, IP creation, and industry partnerships.

Deep-science innovation cannot thrive without patient capital, funding that understands and supports the long, uncertain, and scientifically intensive journey from discovery to commercialisation. Patient capital recognises that meaningful scientific breakthroughs often require 5-10 years of sustained support, with resources deployed at different stages to advance TRLs, build IP, de-risk technology, and prepare for market adoption. This capital cannot expect rapid returns; instead, it bets on high-impact, high-barrier, IP-rich innovations that can transform industries once they mature. For India to build a globally competitive deep-tech ecosystem, we need investors, CSR partners, government programmes, and corporate innovation funds that are willing to nurture science-led startups through long gestation cycles. Patient capital is not slow capital; it is strategic, committed, and visionary, enabling the creation of technologies that define national capability and future economic leadership.

The role of incubators

Startup incubators play an indispensable role in advancing deep-science innovation, particularly because these technologies require long development cycles, specialised infrastructure, and structured TRL progression. Incubators bridge this journey by providing access to advanced labs, fabrication and prototyping facilities, testing environments, and scientific mentorship – resources that are typically unavailable to early-stage founders. They help startups navigate IP creation, regulatory pathways, industry standards, grant applications, and fundraising strategies, all of which are crucial for moving from low TRL stages to higher readiness levels.

Startup incubators also create a collaborative ecosystem where researchers, industry partners, investors, and policymakers converge, reducing the friction and uncertainty that surround deep-tech development. By de-risking innovation, accelerating validation, and aligning scientific capability with market needs, incubators act as the engines that transform frontier research into deployable, scalable technologies, strengthening the deep-tech ecosystem and national innovation capacity.

Low TRL phases are not inefficiencies; they are the foundation on which reliable, scalable, and globally competitive technologies are built. In deep-science innovation, spending years in early TRLs is not a delay but an investment: This long, patient journey is precisely what differentiates frontier technologies from fast-turnaround software products. Deep-science innovation demands rigour, precision, and validation because it ultimately powers industries, impacts human lives, and shapes national capabilities.

Deep-science ideas do take time, but they deliver extraordinary long-term value. They create defensible IP, build strategic technological leadership, and unlock solutions to humanity’s most pressing challenges – energy, sustainability, health, space, and advanced manufacturing. For India, nurturing deep-science innovation is not just an economic imperative but a strategic one. As the world enters a new era of technological competition, countries that invest today in early-stage, low-TRL science will lead tomorrow’s breakthroughs. By strengthening scientific incubation, channelling patient capital, and empowering science-based incubators, India can position itself at the forefront of global technology revolutions – driving impact not just for markets, but for society at large.

(The writer is Chief Executive, STEM Cell at Foundation for Science Innovation and Development, IISc)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.