The EDGE Grant for AI projects: a plain-English guide for Singapore SMEs

If you want Enterprise Singapore to co-fund an AI project in 2026, the scheme is now the EDGE Grant. It replaced the EDG, the MRA and Enterprise Singapore’s PSG on 30 September 2026. For AI work there are three practical routes: a packaged AI tool from a pre-approved list, a bespoke implementation under Large-Scale Digital Transformation, or an AI management system certification. SMEs can get up to 50% on all three, subject to eligibility and current criteria.

The routes fund very different projects, so picking the right one matters more than the headline rate. One honest warning up front: a narrow, single-workflow AI project can fall between them. More on that below.

We’re practitioners who build and run AI systems, not grant consultants. Everything here comes from Enterprise Singapore, BizSG, IMDA and IRAS pages as they read on 11 October 2026. Check them before you commit money, because the scheme is two weeks old and some of the official pages don’t yet agree with each other.

What changed on 30 September

Enterprise Singapore folded three schemes into one. The EDGE FAQ is clear on the transition. Applications for EDG, MRA and PSG submitted before 30 September 2026 are still assessed under the old rules. Nothing new can be lodged under them.

Three knock-on effects matter for AI buyers:

• PSG isn’t entirely gone. Enterprise Singapore’s PSG solutions came off the GoBusiness directory on 30 September, but PSG solutions funded by other agencies are still listed for now.
• SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit can’t be used with EDGE. SFEC claims on older EDG or PSG projects must be in by 30 November 2026.
• No double funding. A project already funded under the old schemes can’t be funded again under EDGE.

Who qualifies

From the activity pages and the FAQ, your business must:

• be registered and operating in Singapore;
• have at least 30% local shareholding, direct or indirect, counted by who ultimately owns it;
• not have started the project, or paid the vendor anything (including a deposit), before you submit the application;
• not have applied for grant support for the same project before.

SMEs get the higher rate: group annual sales of not more than S$100 million, or not more than 200 workers. Non-SMEs generally get up to 30%. You must still meet the criteria, including the 30% local shareholding, when you make your claim, not just when you apply.

The three routes for an AI project

Route	What it funds	SME support	Cap	Decision time
Packaged AI tools	A pre-approved GenAI chatbot, GenAI marketing content tool, or AI accounting automation	50% of a capped cost	Inside the S$30,000 sub-cap	About a week
Large-Scale Digital Transformation	Bespoke, enterprise-wide change using AI/ML, RPA, workflow automation or system integration	Up to 50%	Case by case, outside the S$100,000 cap	Case by case
ISO/IEC 42001 AI management system	Consultancy and certification to the AI governance standard	Up to 50%	Inside the S$100,000 cap	About 10 weeks

Packaged AI tools

The quickest route. EDGE has three single-function AI activities. You pick a pre-approved solution from IMDA’s SMEs Go Digital platform, and the grant covers software costs only:

• GenAI customer engagement chatbot: supportable cost capped at S$15,000, so an SME grant of up to S$7,500.
• GenAI marketing and sales content generation: capped at S$5,000, up to S$2,500.
• AI accounting automation: capped at S$5,000, up to S$2,500, and not open to home-based businesses.

Subscriptions are supported for 12 months at most, and the project must finish within 18 months of approval. Professional services such as data migration may be supported as part of a pre-approved package, if they’re assessed as meaningful to adoption and listed in the package. When we checked, the GenAI chatbot category listed more than a dozen pre-approved solutions.

Good fit if you want a standard tool your team will use as is. It won’t fund anything built around how your business actually works.

Large-Scale Digital Transformation

This is the route for bespoke AI. The activity page names AI/ML alongside cloud platforms, analytics, RPA, workflow automation and legacy-system integration. The project must show measurable impact on growth and efficiency, and must integrate or standardise across your systems.

Supported cost types include hardware, professional services, salaries and software. GST and maintenance are not supported. According to BizSG, these projects are assessed case by case and sit outside the S$100,000 annual cap.

The paperwork is heavier. Expect to provide a proposal and quotes, last year’s financial statements, three-year projections, and a claim checked by an auditor from Enterprise Singapore’s panel.

ISO/IEC 42001 certification

The AI management system activity funds the consultancy and certification costs of adopting the international AI governance standard. Software isn’t covered, nor are audits after the first year. The consultant must hold SS 680 certification and the certification body must be accredited. Most SMEs don’t need this yet. It’s worth knowing about if your customers are starting to ask how you govern AI.

What about AI strategy?

There is no standalone “AI strategy” or “AI readiness” activity. The general Business Strategic Planning activity funds professional services for strategy work. The FAQ says SS 680 is required for Standards projects, but the application document lists for Business Strategic Planning and the Financial Management activities also ask for the consultant’s SS 680 certification. Assume a strategy-only engagement needs an SS 680-certified consultant.

The gap: one workflow, done properly

Here’s the part most EDGE explainers skip, and it applies to us as much as anyone. Say you’re a 30-person firm that wants one supervised AI agent matching supplier invoices to purchase orders. It’s bespoke, so it isn’t one of the three packaged categories. It may also be too narrow for Large-Scale Digital Transformation. That activity explicitly excludes automating isolated tasks without broader transformation.

That doesn’t mean it can never qualify. A single-workflow project that connects your accounting, inventory and approvals systems might make the case. But don’t budget on the assumption that EDGE will pay half of a focused AI build. A good provider should tell you which route they think your project fits, and why, before you sign anything. If one says “it’s grant-claimable” without naming the activity, ask them to name it.

Two worked examples

A packaged chatbot. You pick a pre-approved GenAI chatbot with a 12-month subscription priced at S$12,000. That’s under the S$15,000 cost cap, so an SME could receive up to S$6,000. The decision comes in about a week, and you claim after the project finishes.

A bespoke transformation. A S$60,000 project that adds AI-driven exception handling across your finance and operations systems, approved at the SME rate, could receive up to S$30,000. The amount is set case by case and doesn’t touch your S$100,000 cap. You pay the vendor first and make one final claim at the end.

Stacking with the tax deduction. Budget 2026 added a 400% deduction for qualifying AI spending under the Enterprise Innovation Scheme, on the first S$50,000 per Year of Assessment for YA2027 and YA2028. IRAS’s e-Tax guide excludes spending covered by a government grant and computes qualifying costs net of grants. Hardware doesn’t qualify. Our reading is that the half of an EDGE project you pay yourself might still qualify, but IRAS doesn’t spell that out for EDGE, so it’s a question for your tax adviser.

How to apply, step by step

1. Check fit first on the BizSG grant pages, which list each EDGE activity’s conditions.
2. Get the quotation and, for larger projects, the proposal. Don’t pay anything or start work yet.
3. Apply on the Business Grants Portal with your company’s Corppass. Your own staff submit it; the vendor can’t.
4. Wait for the Letter of Offer and accept it. You may pay the vendor after you’ve submitted, before approval, but that’s at your own risk.
5. Run the project within the activity’s time limit.
6. Make a single final claim. Claim windows open on 1 November 2026 for packaged solutions, enterprise systems and equipment, and on 1 December 2026 for everything else. Payout is within 14 working days of the claim being approved if you use PayNow Corporate.

Mistakes that cost you the grant

The FAQ is blunt about what goes wrong. Paying a deposit before you apply. Changing vendor after approval, which means terminating and reapplying. Using a related-party vendor. Letting a third party apply or pay for you. Losing eligibility before you claim. Missing the claim date, or receiving invoices after your single claim.

Most of these come down to doing things in the wrong order. Apply first, then commit.

Where the official pages disagree

Two weeks in, the official material isn’t fully consistent. The EDGE landing page headline says up to 70% for SMEs, but the FAQ confirms 70% applies only to internationalisation and sustainability; AI work is at 50%. The S$30,000 sub-cap is worded differently in different places. And the SS 680 requirement reads differently in the FAQ than in the application document lists. When pages conflict, ask Enterprise Singapore or an SME Centre adviser, and keep the written answer.

Do this next week

Write down the one AI project you’d actually fund, then match it to a route. If it’s a standard chatbot, content tool or accounting automation, browse the pre-approved list on SMEs Go Digital and compare two or three vendors. If it’s bespoke, ask your provider which EDGE activity they’d apply under and why. If they can’t name one, plan the project at full price and treat any grant as a bonus.

Then run the numbers at full price through our ROI calculator. A project that only pays back at 50% off is a weak project. For the rest of Singapore’s 2026 AI funding, including the tax deduction and the bank schemes, see our grants overview. If you’d like a second opinion on which route your project fits, that’s part of what our AI Opportunity Audit covers.