The Only 5 Business Grant Categories Every Business Owner in Singapore Should Know for 2024

TLDR; Read this article to have a high-level overview of the different types of Grant Categories friends!! 😍

Are you a savvy business owner in Singapore looking to unlock new opportunities and supercharge your growth?

Stick through to this whole article so we can help you stay ahead of the curve!

Now, as we know - the Singapore government offers a range of grants to help businesses like yours thrive. As experienced guides in the realm of digital transformation and grant assistance, we at Devhaus have witnessed the incredible impact these grants can have on businesses across industries.

We've helped numerous clients navigate the grant landscape, secure funding, and implement game-changing digital solutions. In this article, we'll shine a spotlight on the five most crucial business grant categories every Singaporean business owner should know for 2024. These grants are your keys to unlocking productivity, innovation, and expansion:

1. Enterprise Development Grant (EDG): Supercharge your core capabilities, innovation, and productivity.
2. Market Readiness Assistance (MRA) Grant: Expand your horizons and conquer new markets.
3. Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG): Streamline your operations with cutting-edge technology.
4. Enterprise Financing Scheme (EFS): Access the capital you need to fuel your growth.
5. Business Improvement Fund (BIF): Elevate your products, processes, and services in the tourism sector.

We understand that navigating the grant landscape can be overwhelming, but that's where we come in. As your trusted partners, we'll break down each grant category, share inspiring success stories, and provide actionable insights to help you secure the funding your business needs to soar. So, whether you're a bootstrapping startup ready to scale or an established enterprise looking to digitize your operations, join us on this journey of discovery. Together, we'll uncover the grants that will help you build a stronger, more resilient, and more innovative business.

BUT First!...

Before we dive too deep into this article to jump into the grant categories you’d want to consider - take some time to watch Singapore’s Budget 2024 - where our bossman, Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong walks through budgeting and the plans for supporting SMEs and local businesses.

TLDR, here's the rundown of the grand initiatives 😍

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong on Friday (Feb 16) announced a new Enterprise Support Package, which will provide S$1.3 billion in support to companies in Singapore. Companies will get a 50% corporate income tax rebate capped at S$40,000, and there will be a minimum benefit of S$2,000 in cash payouts for companies that employed at least one local employee in 2023. (below is the outline)

1. Introduction of the S$1.3 Billion Enterprise Support Package:
   • The Singapore government has introduced a new S$1.3 billion Enterprise Support Package as part of the 2024 budget.
   • This package is designed to help businesses cope with rising costs and economic challenges.
2. Components of the Support Package:
   • Cost Management: The package includes measures to help businesses manage operational costs more effectively.
   • Innovation and Digitalization: There are initiatives to encourage businesses to adopt innovative practices and digital tools to enhance productivity.
   • Talent Development: Funding and support for training programs to upskill the workforce and attract talent.
3. Specific Measures and Incentives:
   • Grants and Subsidies: Various grants and subsidies will be available to support businesses in their growth and scaling efforts.
   • Tax Incentives: Enhanced tax incentives aimed at reducing the financial burden on businesses.
   • Loan Schemes: Improved access to financing through government-backed loan schemes to support business expansion.
4. Focus on Sustainability:
   • The package also emphasizes sustainability, encouraging businesses to adopt environmentally friendly practices.
   • Support for green projects and initiatives that contribute to sustainable development.
5. Support for SMEs:
   • Special attention is given to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), recognizing their crucial role in the economy.
   • Tailored programs and resources to help SMEs innovate, grow, and compete on a global scale.
6. Implementation and Access:
   • Details on how businesses can access these supports, including application processes and eligibility criteria.
   • Encouragement for businesses to take advantage of the available resources to navigate economic uncertainties and drive growth.

Now, let's move on to the actual topic we've all been waiting for - the top 5 grant categories you need to focus on for your business growth. Do note that these recommendations are mainly catered to these main Initiatives;

• Digitisation
• Digitalisation
• Digital Transformation

Now if you're looking to scale up your business and get it co-financed with our local government agencies, these are our top picks!

1. Enterprise Development Grant (EDG)

The Enterprise Development Grant (EDG) is a flagship grant designed to help Singapore companies grow and transform. This grant supports projects that help businesses upgrade their business, innovate or venture overseas under three pillars:

1. Core Capabilities
2. Innovation and Productivity
3. Market Access

Pillars Explained

Core Capabilities

The Core Capabilities pillar supports companies looking to strengthen their foundations through business strategy development, financial management, and human capital development. This pillar is beneficial for businesses that want to:

• Develop a clear and effective business strategy to guide their growth
• Improve their financial management practices to optimize cash flow and profitability
• Enhance their human resource management to attract, retain, and develop top talent

Use Case: A medium-sized manufacturing company wants to expand its operations but lacks a clear strategy and struggles with cash flow management. By leveraging the EDG's Core Capabilities pillar, the company can work with consultants to develop a robust business strategy, implement best practices in financial management, and create a talent development plan to support their growth objectives.

Legacy Industry Example: A traditional brick-and-mortar retail chain wants to improve its financial management and develop a long-term strategy to stay competitive in the face of increasing e-commerce adoption. By leveraging the EDG's Core Capabilities pillar, the company can work with consultants to optimize its financial processes, develop an omnichannel strategy, and create a talent development plan to upskill its workforce for the digital age.

Digital Native Industry Example: A young fintech startup wants to strengthen its foundation to prepare for rapid growth. Through the EDG's Core Capabilities pillar, the startup can engage consultants to refine its business model, implement robust financial management systems, and develop a talent acquisition and retention strategy to support its expansion plans.

Innovation and Productivity

The Innovation and Productivity pillar helps companies explore new areas of growth through product development, process redesign, and automation. This pillar is beneficial for businesses that want to:

• Create new products or services to meet evolving customer needs
• Streamline their processes to improve efficiency and reduce costs
• Adopt automation technologies to increase productivity and competitiveness

Use Case - Classic Example: A food manufacturing company faces increasing competition and needs to differentiate itself in the market. Through the EDG's Innovation and Productivity pillar, the company can invest in R&D to develop new, innovative products, redesign its production processes to minimize waste, and implement automated solutions to boost output and consistency.

Legacy Industry Example: A precision engineering company faces pressure to improve its efficiency and develop new, innovative products to stay ahead of the competition. By tapping into the EDG's Innovation and Productivity pillar, the company can invest in R&D to develop cutting-edge solutions, redesign its manufacturing processes to reduce lead times, and adopt Industry 4.0 technologies to boost productivity.

Digital Native Industry Example: An e-commerce company wants to enhance its customer experience and streamline its operations to handle increasing order volumes. Through the EDG's Innovation and Productivity pillar, the company can develop a personalized product recommendation engine using AI, optimize its warehouse management processes, and implement robotic process automation (RPA) to automate repetitive tasks.

Market Access

The Market Access pillar assists companies in expanding internationally through market entry strategies, overseas marketing, and business development. This pillar is beneficial for businesses that want to:

• Identify and assess potential overseas markets for expansion
• Develop effective market entry strategies to penetrate new markets
• Build brand awareness and generate leads in target overseas markets

Use Case - Classic:

A local software company has saturated the domestic market and wants to expand internationally. By tapping into the EDG's Market Access pillar, the company can conduct market research to identify promising overseas markets, develop a localized marketing strategy, and participate in international trade shows and business matching events to establish a presence in these new markets.

Legacy Industry Example: A local food and beverage company has established a strong presence in Singapore and wants to expand into neighboring Southeast Asian markets. By leveraging the EDG's Market Access pillar, the company can conduct market research to identify the most promising markets, develop a localized marketing strategy, and participate in regional trade shows to build brand awareness and establish distribution networks.

Digital Native Industry Example: A Singapore-based SaaS company wants to expand its customer base globally. Through the EDG's Market Access pillar, the company can engage in digital marketing campaigns to target overseas customers, participate in virtual trade missions and online business matching events, and adapt its product to meet the specific needs of different international markets.

Eligibility and Benefits

The EDG funds up to 70% of eligible costs for SMEs and 50% for non-SMEs. To be eligible, your company must be registered and operating in Singapore, have a minimum of 30% local shareholding, and be in a financially viable position to start and complete the project.

This means that SMEs can significantly reduce their investment risk and financial burden when embarking on growth and transformation projects.

For example, if an SME invests S$100,000 in a project covered by the EDG, they may only need to pay S$30,000 out of pocket, with the remaining S$70,000 covered by the grant.

For non-SMEs, the 50% funding support can still provide a substantial boost to their growth and transformation efforts. A non-SME investing S$500,000 in an eligible project can receive up to S$250,000 in funding support, significantly reducing their financial outlay and allowing them to allocate more resources to other areas of their business.

In summary, the Enterprise Development Grant (EDG) is a valuable resource for Singapore companies looking to grow, transform, and internationalize their businesses. By providing funding support and expert guidance across the three pillars of Core Capabilities, Innovation and Productivity, and Market Access, the EDG empowers companies to strengthen their foundations, explore new growth opportunities, and expand into overseas markets with confidence.

2. Market Readiness Assistance (MRA) Grant

The Market Readiness Assistance (MRA) grant is a valuable resource for Singapore-based SMEs looking to expand their business overseas. By providing financial support for key internationalization activities, the MRA grant helps companies overcome the initial challenges of entering new markets and establishing a global presence.

Supported Activities

The MRA grant supports a range of activities designed to help SMEs successfully navigate the complexities of overseas market entry:

1. Overseas market setup: The grant covers expenses related to setting up a presence in a new overseas market, such as incorporating a legal entity, securing office space, and obtaining necessary licenses and certifications. This support is crucial for SMEs that may lack the resources or expertise to navigate foreign business regulations and requirements on their own.
2. Business matching: The MRA grant supports participation in business matching activities, such as trade shows, exhibitions, and networking events. These activities provide SMEs with valuable opportunities to connect with potential partners, customers, and distributors in their target markets, helping them build the relationships necessary for successful market entry.
3. Market promotion: The grant covers expenses related to promoting the company's products or services in the target market, such as developing localized marketing materials, engaging in digital marketing campaigns, and participating in trade missions. This support helps SMEs build brand awareness and generate leads in new markets, which is essential for gaining a foothold and driving sales.
4. Overseas market development trips: The MRA grant supports travel expenses for company representatives to visit target markets for market research, customer engagement, and business development purposes. These trips provide SMEs with valuable insights into local market conditions, customer preferences, and competitive landscapes, enabling them to refine their market entry strategies and make informed decisions.

Use Cases

To better understand how the MRA grant can benefit SMEs, let's consider two hypothetical use cases:

1. Legacy Industry Example: A local food manufacturing SME wants to expand into the Southeast Asian market. By leveraging the MRA grant, the company can conduct market research trips to assess consumer preferences and identify potential distributors in target countries. The grant can also support the development of localized packaging and marketing materials, as well as participation in regional food and beverage trade shows to showcase their products and build brand awareness.
2. Digital Native Industry Example: A Singapore-based e-commerce SME wants to expand its customer base in Japan. Through the MRA grant, the company can engage a local digital marketing agency to develop a targeted online campaign, participate in virtual business matching events to connect with potential partners, and travel to Japan to meet with key stakeholders and better understand the local e-commerce landscape.

In summary, the Market Readiness Assistance (MRA) grant is a comprehensive support program that helps Singapore-based SMEs overcome the challenges of overseas market entry. By providing financial assistance for key internationalization activities, such as market setup, business matching, market promotion, and overseas market development trips, the MRA grant enables SMEs to explore new opportunities, build global partnerships, and ultimately succeed in the competitive international business environment.

Eligibility and Benefits

To be eligible for the MRA grant, your company must be registered and operating in Singapore, have a minimum of 30% local shareholding, and have an annual turnover not exceeding S$100 million or employment size not exceeding 200 workers. These criteria ensure that the grant is targeted towards SMEs that are most in need of support for their internationalization efforts.

The MRA grant covers up to 70% of eligible costs, capped at S$100,000 per company per new market over three years. This means that SMEs can significantly reduce their financial risk and upfront investment when exploring new overseas opportunities. For example, if an SME spends S$50,000 on eligible market entry activities, they may only need to pay S$15,000 out of pocket, with the remaining S$35,000 covered by the grant.

3. Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG)

The Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG) is a government initiative designed to help Singapore-based companies improve their productivity and efficiency by adopting cutting-edge IT solutions and equipment. This grant is particularly beneficial for businesses operating in sectors such as retail, food, logistics, precision engineering, construction, and landscaping, where the adoption of technology can lead to significant improvements in operations and competitiveness.

Sector-Specific Solutions

One of the key features of the PSG is its focus on sector-specific solutions. By providing targeted support for industries with unique challenges and requirements, the grant enables companies to implement solutions that are tailored to their specific needs. Some examples of sector-specific solutions covered by the PSG include:

1. Retail: Point-of-sale (POS) systems, inventory management software, and e-commerce platforms that help retailers streamline their operations, improve customer experience, and increase sales.
2. Food: Automated kitchen equipment, food safety management systems, and digital ordering platforms that enable food businesses to improve efficiency, maintain high quality standards, and enhance customer satisfaction.
3. Logistics: Warehouse management systems, transportation management software, and RFID technology that help logistics companies optimize their supply chain, reduce costs, and improve delivery times.
4. Precision Engineering: Computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) software, CNC machines, and 3D printing technology that enable precision engineering firms to design and manufacture high-quality products more efficiently.
5. Construction: Building information modeling (BIM) software, project management tools, and drone technology that help construction companies plan and execute projects more effectively, reduce waste, and improve safety.
6. Landscaping: Automated irrigation systems, GPS-enabled equipment, and landscape design software that enable landscaping businesses to enhance their services, improve resource management, and increase productivity.

By covering a wide range of sector-specific solutions, the PSG helps companies across various industries adopt the technology they need to stay competitive and thrive in today's digital economy.

Eligibility and Benefits

To be eligible for the PSG, your company must be registered and operating in Singapore, have a minimum of 30% local shareholding, and have an annual turnover not exceeding S$100 million or employment size not exceeding 200 workers. These criteria ensure that the grant is targeted towards small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that may face resource constraints in adopting new technology.

The PSG funds up to 70% of the costs for pre-scoped IT solutions and equipment, capped at S$30,000 per company. This means that SMEs can significantly reduce their upfront investment in technology, making it more accessible and affordable to adopt productivity-enhancing solutions. For example, if an SME invests S$20,000 in a pre-scoped IT solution, they may only need to pay S$6,000 out of pocket, with the remaining S$14,000 covered by the grant.

Use Cases

To illustrate the potential benefits of the PSG, let's consider two hypothetical use cases:

1. Legacy Industry Example: A small construction company wants to improve its project management and reduce costs. By leveraging the PSG, the company can adopt a cloud-based project management platform and BIM software, enabling them to collaborate more effectively with stakeholders, optimize resource allocation, and minimize waste. The grant covers 70% of the costs, making it more affordable for the company to implement these solutions and realize the benefits of digital transformation.
2. Digital Native Industry Example: A growing e-commerce company wants to enhance its order fulfillment process and improve customer satisfaction. Through the PSG, the company can invest in an automated warehouse management system and integrate it with their e-commerce platform, enabling them to process orders more quickly, reduce errors, and provide real-time tracking information to customers. The grant's support makes it easier for the company to adopt these advanced solutions and scale their operations efficiently.

In summary, the Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG) is a valuable resource for Singapore-based SMEs looking to enhance their productivity and competitiveness through the adoption of IT solutions and equipment. By providing financial support for sector-specific solutions and pre-scoped technologies, the PSG makes it more accessible and affordable for companies to embrace digital transformation and thrive in the modern business landscape.

5. Business Improvement Fund (BIF)

The Business Improvement Fund (BIF) is a grant specifically designed to support companies in the tourism sector. It aims to help these companies enhance their products, processes, and services, thereby improving their competitiveness and contributing to the overall growth of Singapore's tourism industry.

Areas of Support

The BIF provides support in four key areas:

1. Product and service development: This area focuses on helping tourism companies develop new or improved products and services to meet evolving customer needs and preferences. For example, a travel agency may use the grant to develop a new tour package that showcases Singapore's unique cultural heritage, or a hotel may create a new wellness program to attract health-conscious travelers.
2. Process redesign and automation: This area supports tourism companies in streamlining their processes and adopting automation to improve efficiency and productivity. For instance, a restaurant may use the grant to implement a new kitchen management system that optimizes inventory control and reduces waste, or an attraction may automate its ticketing process to reduce queues and enhance visitor experience.
3. Service excellence training: This area focuses on helping tourism companies to upskill their employees and improve service quality. The grant can be used to support training programs that enhance employee skills in areas such as customer service, cultural sensitivity, and language proficiency, enabling them to deliver exceptional experiences to visitors.
4. Technology adoption: This area supports tourism companies in adopting new technologies to improve their operations and customer engagement. For example, a hotel may use the grant to implement a mobile app that allows guests to check-in remotely and access personalized services, or a tour operator may adopt virtual reality technology to provide immersive experiences to potential customers.

Eligibility and Benefits

To be eligible for the BIF, your company must be registered and operating in Singapore, have a minimum of 30% local shareholding, and be in the tourism sector. This includes businesses such as hotels, travel agencies, tour operators, attractions, and restaurants.

The BIF funds up to 70% of eligible costs, capped at S$1 million per company. This means that tourism companies can receive significant support in enhancing their products, processes, and services, enabling them to stay competitive and contribute to the growth of Singapore's tourism industry.

SO To conclude: We are a great pick as YOUR Partner in Navigating the Digital Landscape

As we've explored the five essential business grant categories every Singaporean business owner should know for 2024, it's clear that these grants offer incredible opportunities for growth, innovation, and success. Whether you're looking to enhance your core capabilities, expand into new markets, streamline your operations, access capital, or elevate your tourism offerings, there's a grant that can help you achieve your goals.

However, we understand that navigating the grant landscape and securing funding can be complex and time-consuming. That's where Devhaus comes in. As your trusted partner in digital transformation and grant assistance, we're here to guide you every step of the way.

Our team of experienced professionals has a deep understanding of the grant ecosystem and a proven track record of helping businesses like yours secure the funding they need to thrive. We'll work closely with you to identify the grants that align with your unique needs, assist you in the application process, and provide ongoing support to ensure you maximize the impact of your funding.

But our support doesn't stop there. As a full-service digital transformation agency, we'll also help you implement the digital solutions and strategies that will take your business to the next level. From cutting-edge technology adoption to process optimization and beyond, we'll be your partner in innovation and growth.

Reach out to our sales team to get an glimpse of overview deck below for more context on Devhaus's Growth and Digital Solutions for Growing businesses;

Take the First Step Towards Your Business's Bright Future

Ready to unlock the power of government grants and digital transformation? Schedule a call with our friendly team today. We'll take the time to understand your business, your goals, and your challenges, and develop a tailored plan to help you secure the funding and support you need to succeed.

Don't miss out on the opportunity to supercharge your growth in 2024 and beyond. Contact Devhaus now and let's work together to build a brighter, more successful future for your business.

Book a Free Consultation

With Devhaus by your side, you'll have the guidance, expertise, and support you need to navigate the grant landscape with confidence and achieve your business goals. Let's unlock your potential together.

‍