At first glance, having your startup based in Singapore seems like a bad idea due to the small market size, expensive labour force, and high operating costs. But the country has turned the tide with its business-friendly policies and highly-supportive government grants, creating a paradise for startups and SMEs to grow without excessive red tape or financial burden.

The COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on our economy and pushed businesses to the brink of bankruptcy. As a result, these grants have become the lifesaver and fuel for startups and small businesses to survive.

Unfortunately, finding out which grants are available and suitable for you is anything but simple. And more often than not, firms find themselves confused due to the sheer options available, as well as the eligibility and compliance that need to follow.

This is why we created this article to show you which grants are considered useful for startups in building internal capabilities, scaling the business, focusing on innovation, or expanding offshore operations.

Enterprise Singapore started it all

Formed on April 1, 2018, after a merger between International Enterprise (IE) Singapore and SPRING Singapore, Enterprise Singapore (ESG) is the government agency championing enterprise development. Their mission is to support the growth of Singapore as a hub for global trading and startups to upgrade capabilities, innovate, transform, and internationalise.

They administer most of the Singapore grants for startups. However, ESG is a pretty big organisation with a jungle of departments, so finding out the right one can be a daunting task – regardless, any officer in ESG will gladly help you on this matter.

Hence, the crucial part is knowing which grants you should apply to.

*The last three grants are sub-grants in the Enterprise Development Grant (EDG)

**The links above are direct to the official site, so you will have your most accurate/updated/verbose details from there.

Also Read: In brief: Malaysia’s AdEasy raises funding; Singapore’s Group-IB receives govt. grant

MRA – Market Readiness Assistance Grant

The Market Readiness Assistance (MRA) Grant is a programme offered to Singapore-based startups and SMEs who are on the journey to expand their business overseas. In summary, the government funds will help pay 70 per cent of the incurred costs (capped at S$100,000/US$72,000 per company per new market) on qualifying activities for venturing into a new oversea market, including:

Overseas business development (Capped at S$50,000/US$36,000)
Overseas market set-up (Capped at S$30,000/US$21,000)
Overseas market promotion (Capped at S$20,000/US$14,582)

This is a huge deal for businesses that are struggling to keep their cash flow positive, especially in the post-COVID-19 pandemic world. The situation is even worse for startups and SMEs that are expanding their tech hub and resource overseas. From the perspective of these companies, the MRA grant is genuinely a “lifesaver” to their offshore journey.

Eligibility
Small and Medium Enterprises that meet the following criteria:

Business entity/headquarter is based in Singapore
Pass the new market entry requirement: overseas sales remain under S$100,000 (US$72,000) in each of the last three preceding years
Own at least 30 per cent of the company shares in Singapore
The Group Annual Sales Turnover must be lower than S$100 million (US$72 million) OR having less than 200 employees

Application requirements

Get a quotation from a pre-approved third-party consultant.
Submit an application on the Business Grants Portal.
ON APPROVAL, sign the engagement letter with the third-party.
Retrospective applications will not be accepted.

PSG – Productivity Solutions Grant

The Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG) supports companies keen on adopting IT solutions and equipment to enhance business processes, such as customer management, data analytics, financial management, and inventory tracking.

The list of readily available solutions can be found on Tech Depot.

COVID-19 Support
To encourage enterprises on their digitalisation and productivity upgrading efforts, the maximum funding support level will be raised to 80 per cent from April 1 to December 31, 2020.

The scope of generic solutions will also be expanded to help enterprises implement COVID-19 business continuity measures, including:

Online collaboration tools
Virtual meeting and telephony tools
Queue management systems
Temperature screening solutions
Laptop-Bundled Remote Working Solutions (April 17 until December 31, 2020.)

The last measure of “Laptop-Bundled Remote Working Solutions” is particularly attractive, and we at Tech JDI have also applied for this grant (and are approved) for Axiom’s Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 + Microsoft 365 Business bundle sets.

Eligibility
Small and Medium Enterprises that meet the following criteria:

Business entity/headquarter is based in Singapore
Purchase/lease/subscription of the IT solutions or equipment must be used in Singapore
Own at least 30 per cent of the company shares in Singapore
The Group Annual Sales Turnover must be lower than S$100 million (US$72 million) OR having less than 200 employees

Application requirements

Identify relevant solutions from Tech Depot
Get a quotation from a pre-approved vendor
Submit an application on the Business Grants Portal

Also Read: In brief: BCB Blockchain launches US$15M grants for Asia’s tech, blockchain startups

EDG – Enterprise Development Grant

Aiming to foster business development and growth to its full potential, the EDG can be seen as a much broader grant compared to the MRA which only focuses on overseas operations.

The Enterprise Development Grant will help pay up to 80 per cent of the project costs (90 per cent for firms who are severely impacted by COVID-19). Aiming to help SMEs in growing their business, the enterprise development grant work as a financial assistance programme for companies to expand their internal capabilities in three main areas:

Market Access
Core Capabilities
Innovation and Productivity

Only projects that are new and not generating any revenue at the point of submission will be covered by EDG.

Additionally, unionised companies and e2i partners under the Labour Movement will receive an extra 10 per cent grant cover thanks to the NTUC-e2i’s endorsement.

From April 1, all companies applying for the Enterprise Development Grant must commit to achieving workers outcomes to qualify for up to 70 per cent funding. Companies have to select at least one of four workers outcomes:

Wage increment
Redesign of existing jobs
New jobs created
Training for better prospects

Coupled with the MRA, you can potentially secure more than S$200,000 (US$145,000) for your business! That is a lot of money.

Eligibility
Only SMEs that meet these following criteria are eligible for the EDG:

Business entity/headquarter is based in Singapore
Own at least 30 per cent of the company shares in Singapore
Have the capability to carry out the project successfully

Application requirements
Project Proposal: Choose the key project category to apply and prepare the proposal. If you are unfamiliar with these procedures, here are the proposal templates to help your preparation:

EDG Project Proposal Template-Core Capabilities
EDG Project Proposal Template-Innovation Productivity
EDG Project Proposal Template-Market access

* For SMEs that applying for EDG to cover consultancy-related costs, you are required to be engaged with management consultants who have the Enterprise Singapore-recognised certification.

Also Read: 3 ways to get more funding for your startup in a new market

Supporting documents: Click here for the full detail check-list.

To apply for a grant, you will need to:

Register an account on CorpPass
Get a cost quotation from the third-party vendor
Submit your application with the quotation to the Business Grants Portal

*For updates, check the “My Applications” section on the Business Grants Portal. If you pass, the government will send back an Offer Letter.

Too complicated? Get help from the professionals at SME Centres

ESG has teamed up with five trade associations and chambers to set up a network of five primary SME Centres and six satellite centres.

There are Business Advisors at the SME Centres to support startups in understanding the grants available, and their criteria. Business Advisors have:

Experience consulting with SMEs across different industries from productivity, financing, human resource to overseas expansion
Insights on ways to improve your business capabilities through capability workshops
Ideas and support to link you up with solution providers to tackle the same trade or vicinity problems
Project facilitation in areas of technology adoption, process design, business matching and trade fairs participation

You can find the SME Centre network here.

We are living in a time of uncertainty where businesses struggling to survive. As a result, these grants can be a great source to help keep the cash flow un-disrupted, saving your business from the grim fate of bankruptcy.

If you are looking for a way to claim those grants, please use this article as a general guideline for your application. And do let us know if it works out for you.

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