List of Grants for SME

Develop technology ideas at conceptualisation stage to trial test your prototype.

Basic Eligibility (For Who)

Your Solution Must :

1. Clearly demonstrate how science/technology is applied
2. Be of a breakthrough level of innovation (i.e. Distinctly different or absolutely new technology which either (i) has the potential to disrupt an existing market; or (ii) to replace, or even create, a new market/purpose/niche.)
3. Lead to or build on proprietary know-how/IP
4. Be commercially viable

Start-up Companies

1. Registered for less than 5 years at time of award
2. At least 30% local shareholding
3. Company’s group annual sales turnover is not more than $100 million or group employment size is not more than 200 workers
4. Core activities to be carried out in Singapore

Your project must be either a :

Proof-Of-Concept Project

Your solution is at the conceptualisation stage, and the technical / scientific viability still needs to be proven.

You should clearly explain the innovative science or technology concept behind the solution that is to be proven in the proposal. Individual applicants from public sector research institutes must demonstrate entrepreneurial commitment to continue their technology commercialisation work upon successful completion of the project.

Up to 100% of qualifying costs for each project will be supported, subject to a maximum of S$250,000.

OR

Proof-Of-Value Project

You already have a technically / scientifically viable concept (proof-of-concept available), and you wish to carry out further development of a working prototype, to validate the commercial merit of an established concept.

You need to show the technology concept you are building on, and the commercial merit to be validated. You will also be required to demonstrate proof-of-interest from a potential customer or 3rd party investor, and the necessary business competencies to execute the project.

Up to 85% of qualifying costs for each project will be supported, subject to a maximum of S$500,000.

Your project should fall under one of the following areas :

Stage Of Startup

Early stage

Fund Amount (How Much)

Up to S$250,000 to develop ideas
Up to S$500,000 to carry out further research and development

How to apply

Briefing Session

1. Attend the TECS briefing session at SPRING Singapore to find out if the scheme is suitable for you. Our officers will be present to address your enquiries.

Before you apply

2. Submit an executive summary of the project for an initial assessment. Download the Executive Summary template (, 62KB).
3. Email the completed documents to : TECS@spring.gov.sg.

Proposal submissions

4. Suitable applicants will be required to submit a project proposal with a cost breakdown. Download the Project Proposal (, 120KB) and the Cost Breakdown (, 66KB) templates.
5. Register as a user at TECS Portal. Your user ID & password will be emailed to you.Companies must provide all relevant details as best as possible, which will include :
   • Shareholding structure
   • Paid-up capital / fixed assets & investments
   • Number of employees of parent companies / subsidiaries, where applicable
   • Key company executives
6. Log in & submit your proposal and cost breakdown.
7. Selected applicants will go through 2 more stages of evaluation. Click here for more details on the subsequent stages of evaluation.

Commercialise innovative products and services.

Basic Eligibility (For Who)

First-time entrepreneurs between 18 – 26 years old with at least 1 team member who is a Singapore Citizen or Permanent Resident.

Stage Of Startup

All

Fund Amount (How Much)

Up to S$65,000.

Go to http://www.ideasinc.sg/ for more infomation

Start a social enterprise to help disadvantaged Singapore Citizens become self-reliant.

Basic Eligibility (For Who)

The CEF is open to all new and existing social enterprise within the social service sector. Please take note of the following:

New social enterprise should be incorporated as a business or organisation registered with Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA),

Existing social enterprise can only apply for funding for incremental expansion efforts in the current business operations. msf

New and existing business, as well as voluntary welfare organisation should contact the CEF Secretariat (info@scse.sg) for advice on eligibility on the CEF.

 A Compelling Social Objective

 A Viable Business Proposition

 A Committed Team With Relevant Experience And Expertise

Stage Of Startup

Any stages

Fund Amount (How Much)

 An approved social enterprise proposal can receive up to 80% of the total project cost, capped at $300,000. The cost refers to capital expenditure and operating costs for up to the first two years.

 The typical funding is about $100,000 to $150,000 per enterprise.

– See more at: http://app.msf.gov.sg/ComCare/Find-The-Assistance-You-Need/ComCare-Enterprise-Fund

To apply:

– See more at: http://app.msf.gov.sg/ComCare/Find-The-Assistance-You-Need/ComCare-Enterprise-Fund

Get up to S$50,000 in co-matching funds for innovative business.

Basic Eligibility (For Who)

Who is it for? All Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents who:

 are first-time entrepreneur

 hold at least 51% equity in the company

 are the key decision makers and committed to the company on a full-time basis

 have parental consent if they are below 18 years old at the point of application

Your company must not:

 be registered or incorporated for more than 6 months from the date of submission

 have received any funding for the proposed business idea from another Government agency

Your proposed business idea must not be in the following list:

 nightclubs, lounges, bars

 foot reflexology, massage parlours

 gambling

 prostitution, social escort services

 employment agencies (including recruitment of foreign workers, relocation services and manpower services)

 geomancy

Stage Of Startup

Early stage (0 – 6 months from registration/incorporation)

Fund Amount (How Much)

Dollar-matching: S$7 for every S$3 raised raised by entrepreneur, up to S$50,000.

If your start-up is in a capital intensive industry, you may consider applying for an additional $50,000.

For this, ACE will match $3 to every $7 raised by the entrepreneur. i.e., For you to receive a grant of $100,000, you will need to raise $21,429 + $116,667 = $138,095 in total for comatching.

ACE does not take equity in your company and will offer the grant over 2 – 3 tranches of about $10,000 – $25,000 each.

Each tranche of the grant will be released to you when you hit predetermined milestones. In addition, ACE will also match you with a mentor, who will support the sustainable growth of your start-up in its first year.

How to apply

1. Check that you meet the eligibility criteria

2. Download the ACE Startups Submission Form from www.ace.sg/acestartups

3. Fill in, print and sign a hardcopy of the Submission Form. Please remember to duplicate and fill in Part 1 of the form for each of your business partners.

4. Send or hand-deliver your submission to: ACE Start-ups Administrator SPRING Singapore 1 Fusionopolis Walk #01-02 South Tower, Solaris Singapore 138628

Workers over 50 are still capable of providing a valuable contribution to today’s workforce. Just look at The Expendables. Most of them are over 50 and they are still capable of disemboweling men half their age! The SEC was designed to give you a little more incentive to add working-class veterans to your workforce.

By hiring workers age 50 and above, your business qualifies to receive a payout of 8% of every employee over 50 years of age earning up to $4,000 a month (the return for employees earning between $3,000 and $4,000 is less).

Here’s a breakdown of the return for each employee over 50 you hire:

Qualification and payout for the SEC is done automatically by the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board, so all you have to do is hire someone over 50 years of age and make regular CPF contributions.

With the SEC, hiring employees over 50 not only adds some valuable experience to your business, but a little extra money as well.

For more information on the SEC, click here.

Like a thoughtful friend who pitches in for the bar tab, the government will pay up to 90% of the expenses related to improving the productivity of your business. The IGP provides up to $500,000 per year (or $150,000 per project) to co-fund your business expenses in order to raise the value of “low-wage employees” who earn less than $1,700 per month. So it’s a win-win for your business (more productivity) and your employees (who share in the financial success of your business).

To qualify for government grant assistance, your business must satisfy two important requirements for co-funding approval:

1. You must demonstrate that the project(s) you want co-funding for will improve the efficiency of your operations, make your business more adaptable to changing market conditions and result in better products and/or services.
2. You must share your productivity gains with your low-wage staff in the form of bonuses, salary increases, etc.

Once your business has been approved for co-funding, the IGP will cover up to 50% of your business expenses for the following:

• Purchasing new equipment that automates your work processes.
• Re-engineering current work processes to improve the productivity of your business.
• Outsourcing the secondary processes of your business such as cleaning, security, etc. according to Best Sourcing Initiative (BCI) practices.
• Registering any Intellectual Property (IP) and Rights resulting from processes or new products your business creates.

In addition, the IGP also covers up to 90% of the cost for training programmes focused on improving the productivity of your employees.

For more information on the IGP, click here.

Receive $5000 voucher to upgrade your business (ICV)

The Innovation & Capability Voucher (ICV) takes over the old Innovation Voucher Scheme (IVS), which subsidises only technology innovation services. The new 5,000 Innovation & Capability Voucher currently enables SMEs to purchase services and solutions in three more business aspects– Productivity, Human Resources and Financial Management. The objective is to promote to small medium enterprises (SME) to begin advancements in these aspects to improve their capabilities.

Technology innovation services under IVS continue to be subsidised under ICV. These include technical feasibility studies, technical support and knowledge development, which are classified under the Innovation section under ICV.

An SME may submit applications for two vouchers per aspect for support and maintenance services at service providers associated with the Innovation & Capability Voucher scheme. SMEs that want to further improve their capabilities in anyone of the aspects may tap other grant assistance or funding programmes.

All ICV projects should be completed before another new application will be considered for approval. The time period for each project should not exceed half a year.

Criteria

All local SMEs can apply for ICV if they meet the following criteria :

• Physically located and registered in Singapore
• Have at least 30% local shareholding, and
• Have group annual sales of not more than $100 million or group employment size not exceeding 200 employees

*Above is the excerpt from SPRING SINGAPORE, more information can be found on the link 

http://www.spring.gov.sg/EnterpriseIndustry/BC/Pages/innovation-capability-voucher.aspx

Tap on $10000 to defray the costs of implementing HR system and solutions (CDG)

Criteria

Your business qualifies as long as:

• Registered or incorporated in Singapore
• 30% to 100% of your shareholding is local
• Group fixed assets worth less S$0 – S$15 million*
• Have 5 – 200 employees (for companies in the services sector)*
• Have at least 5 employees with CPF contribution

The Capability Development Grant is developed by the Singapore Workforce Development Agency together with the Tripartite Partners to help enterprises implement HR systems to support re-employment of older employees. The objective is to assist older employees to keep up with the changing demands of the employers, as the statutory retirement age increases from 62 to 65, and potentially 67 in future. Qualified companies will be able to receive funding on 3 aspects to execute their re-employment plans.

1. Programme to acquire Skills and Competencies

• When qualified companies send their Human Resources staff or supervisory managers to attend the 2 day PREPARE workshop to acquire skills and competencies, they are eligible to pay a subsidised fee of S$347.50, inclusive of GST.

2. Installation of E-Performance Appraisal System

• After completion of the 2 day workshop, the company will receive an E-Performance appraisal system to assist with the implementation of re-employment.

3. Company’s effort in Re-Employment preparation

• The Capability Development Grant pays up to $10,000, with $6000 for the implemented e-appraisal system and $4000 in cash to defray costs and efforts in preparing for Re-Employment. To qualify for this $10,000 grant, companies have to be audited to have fulfilled the full deliverables within 2 months.

Receive $20000 or up to 70% for adopting infocomm technology

iSprint Grant – Increase SME Productivity with Infocomm Adoption & Transformation.

1. Infocomm Development Authority (IDA), a Singapore government statutory board, has a list of infocomm packaged solutions for small medium enterprises (SMEs) or startups to plug and play so that they can quickly incorporate information technology in their operations and improve their service. The software packages offer software solutions, consultancy costs and training costs for developing areas in accounting, customer relationship management, enterprise resource planning solutions, events management, fleet management, healthcare management, human resources, integrated point-of-sales solutions, payroll, resource management and standalone point-of-sales.
2. When businesses purchase these programmes or solutions, they may be eligible to receive up to 70% iSprint grant for adopting infocomm technology

Up to $2,000 for basic packed solutions.
Funding capped at $20,000 for intermediate packed solutions.
For customized solutions or projects, grant quantum is determined on a case-by-case basis.

1. To qualify for iSPRINT, your business must meet the following criteria
2. You are a local small medium enterprise (SME) with

At least 30% local shareholding AND
Company’s Group sales turnover is not more than S$100 million annually OR

1. Company’s Group employment size not more than 200 workers
2. You do not already own/ use any other existing solutions that you are going to adopt (i.e. accounting, payroll or POS solution).