Hardware Startup Runway Calculator

Calculate runway against real hardware benchmarks. The relevant benchmark here is 24-36 months — production cycles are long.

Typical starting inputs

This page starts from $200,000/mo burn, $60,000/mo revenue, 35% gross margin, and 6% monthly growth — adjust them to match your books.

What Hardware founders should watch

Tooling and inventory deposits are runway-killers. Build a 24-month cash plan.
Customer deposits and pre-orders are the cheapest capital. Use them.
BOM cost-down per unit is the only path to defensible gross margin.

Burn multiple

Hardware companies should track gross margin per unit, not blended. Investors care about path to 50%+ at scale.

When to raise

Hardware Series A typically requires a working prototype, signed letters of intent, and a manufacturing partner. Expect a longer process than software.

What usually goes wrong

BOM cost increases from supply chain.
Production yield issues from contract manufacturers.
Inventory write-down risk from version churn.

Related free tools

Also try the startup runway calculator, the survival simulator, the default alive or default dead test, and the AI CFO — all free, no account required. When you're ready for live data and ongoing forecasts, sign up for FounderConsole.