Up to 50% of a qualifying transformation project, co-funded by EnterpriseSG — and most owners we meet have never applied. What it funds, who qualifies, how the timeline runs, and the one procedural trap that voids everything. In the order the questions actually arrive.
The EDG, administered by Enterprise Singapore, supports projects that help a business upgrade, innovate, grow, or transform. For local SMEs, support runs up to 50% of eligible costs.
The fees of the consultancy that scopes and delivers the project — provided the consultant holds the certification EnterpriseSG recognises. More on that below.
The tools the project needs to leave capability behind — funded as part of a defined project, not as a shopping trip. Licences with no capability change around them don't qualify.
The hours your own team commits to the project count as qualifying cost too — the grant recognises that transformation is work, not just spend.
The other half is paid by a government agency whose explicit mandate is making your business more capable.
Eligibility is the easy half. Beyond it, every application is assessed on three things: the project scope, the project outcomes, and the competency of the service provider you've chosen.
The third condition deserves a second read. The EDG is reimbursement-based — you fund the project in full and claim only after the deliverables are met — so EnterpriseSG checks that you can carry the cost, using ordinary financial indicators, your current ratio among them. The grant rewards a healthy balance sheet. It doesn't rescue a stressed one.
A complete submission typically takes 8–12 weeks to process — and the approval must land before any work begins. Owners consistently get this backwards: they decide to transform first and discover the queue second.
A start, an end, deliverables, and outcomes you can state as numbers. A good consultant prepares the scope, deliverables, and impact metrics with you — before anything is submitted.
Applications go through the Business Grants Portal using your own Corppass. Third parties are not allowed to apply for or manage the grant on your behalf — you press submit.
Nothing starts, nothing is signed, nothing is paid while EnterpriseSG assesses scope, outcomes, and provider. Work begins only once the letter of offer is in hand.
You fund the project in full and claim once all deliverables are met — within six months of the end of the qualifying period. An officer verifies the deliverables, possibly with a site visit; your appointed auditor verifies the claim; then the funds are disbursed.
The planning implication: if you want a project starting in January, the application work begins in September or October.
The project must be new, and must not have commenced at the point of application — and "commenced" is defined precisely. Your project has commenced if, before the application date, you have done any of the following:
In practice: no engagement letters, no deposits, no "let's just kick off the first phase while we wait." One eager handshake can void the entire grant — and there is no appeal that recovers it.
The EDG doesn't punish bad projects. It punishes good projects started in the wrong order.
The sequence is built into how we engage — nothing starts until the letter of offer is in hand.
Routine bookkeeping doesn't qualify. An open-ended retainer doesn't qualify.
Software licences with no capability change around them don't qualify.
What qualifies is a defined project with a start, an end, deliverables, and outcomes you can state as numbers. Five questions to answer before submitting anything:
A budgeting and forecasting function your team runs. A documented library of AI skills across your core functions. Something you own — with worker outcomes to show for it: staff upskilled into higher-value work, not just software installed. EnterpriseSG weighs worker outcomes alongside business outcomes.
"Month-end close from 8 days to 2–4." "Productive capacity equivalent to 7–10 additional FTEs." Impact metrics are a required part of the submission, not decoration — and they are targets you commit to, not results you claim in advance.
Nothing started, nothing signed, nothing paid.
And have you actually seen the certificate?
Claims are paid on completed deliverables, not invoices in advance. If the answer is no, the honest move is to re-scope, not to stretch.
If your project includes management-consultancy costs, the consultant must hold a certification accredited by the Singapore Accreditation Council — TR 43 or SS 680. The practical shorthand in the market is the Practising Management Consultant (PMC) certification, administered by the Singapore Business Advisors and Consultants Council (SBACC).
There are no pre-approved vendors for the EDG — but provider competency is one of the three assessment criteria. So ask any would-be consultant to show you their certification before you let them scope anything, and demand that standard wherever you take your business.
A grant-funded project answers to two audiences: the client who lives with the outcome, and the officer who verifies it. We design every engagement to satisfy both from day one — because retrofitting discipline at claim time is how projects fail audits.
Assessment and approval sit with EnterpriseSG, case by case. We scope the project honestly and document it properly — the decision is theirs.
Tell us where your business is, and we'll tell you honestly whether a project is worth scoping — and whether the unsubsidised math clears on its own. The grant doubles the case; it shouldn't be the case.