If you were planning to put an AI tool through the Productivity Solutions Grant this year, the grant you had in mind no longer exists. On 29 September, Enterprise Singapore closed three grants: the Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG), the Enterprise Development Grant (EDG) and Market Readiness Assistance (MRA). From 30 September, businesses apply for all three kinds of support under one new grant, called EDGE.
If you applied under one of the old grants before 30 September, nothing changes for you. Those applications are still assessed under the old rules, and projects already under way carry on to completion. Everyone else starts with EDGE.
Here is what it covers, checked against Enterprise Singapore's own pages on 16 October, and how AI fits into it.
The numbers
One cap for everything. Each company can receive up to S$100,000 of grant support a year, across all eligible activities. The year runs from 1 April to 31 March, and the cap resets each April. Enterprise Singapore says companies that need more support can apply to it directly, and those cases are assessed one by one.
A smaller cap for software. Within that S$100,000, up to S$30,000 a year can go to single-function digital solutions, integrated enterprise systems and pre-scoped equipment. That is roughly where most PSG claims used to sit.
How much of the cost it covers. This is the figure most worth reading carefully. The headline on the EDGE page says "up to 70% for SMEs". The FAQ is more precise: up to 50% for SMEs and up to 30% for larger firms, rising to 70% for SMEs (50% for larger firms) only on internationalisation and sustainability activities. For digital and automation work, plan on up to 50%.
Who qualifies. You need to be a business registered in Singapore with at least 30% of the company owned by Singaporeans or permanent residents. You count as an SME if your group's annual turnover is no more than S$100 million, or it employs no more than 200 people.
How the money arrives. EDGE pays back money you have already spent. You claim once the activity is finished and you have paid the supplier in full.
Who applies: you, not your vendor
The grant belongs to the business that wants the work done. You apply yourself, through the Business Grants Portal, with your vendor's quotation attached. The vendor doesn't apply on your behalf and doesn't receive the grant. That matters for two reasons. You control the timing, so you can make sure nothing is signed or paid too early. And you aren't limited to vendors who run the application process for you.
Nor do you always need a pre-approved vendor. Enterprise Singapore says whether one is required "is dependent on the activity selected". Where an activity has a pre-approved list, you choose from it. Where it doesn't, any vendor can quote, and the application takes longer to assess.
The rule that loses the most claims
EDGE does not support work that has already started. Enterprise Singapore's FAQ is direct about it: you must not have started work, or made any payment or deposit to a supplier, before you apply. A payment made after you have submitted the application may still be covered if the application is approved.
So the order matters more than the paperwork. Choose the project, get the quotation, apply, and only then sign and pay. A deposit paid in a hurry to secure a vendor's start date can cost you the whole claim.
Where AI fits
The EDGE pages don't mention AI by name. AI comes in through three routes.
Pre-approved solutions. For some activities there is a list of pre-approved vendors, and you choose from it. The government wants more of that list to be AI-enabled: IMDA has said it will raise the share of AI-enabled pre-approved solutions from 30% to 50%. If an off-the-shelf AI tool on that list does the job, it is the simplest claim to make, and usually the fastest.
Projects built for your business. An AI system connected to your own booking, accounts or customer systems is closer to a project than a product. Processing time depends on the activity. Enterprise Singapore's one worked example is integrated ERP: about a week with a pre-approved vendor, and about ten weeks without one. If you are buying something built for you, budget for that wait before work can begin.
Tax, not grant. Budget 2026 adds AI spending to the Enterprise Innovation Scheme, which gives a 400% tax deduction on qualifying expenditure. AI qualifies for the years of assessment 2027 and 2028, capped at S$50,000 per year of assessment. This sits outside EDGE, so ask your accountant how the two interact for your business.
What we'd do with this
Start with the job, not the grant. Pick one piece of work that eats hours every week: answering the same enquiries, booking appointments, matching invoices to payments. Then ask whether a pre-approved tool already does it well enough. If one does, take it: it is cheaper and faster. If the work depends on your own systems and the way your team actually works, that is a build, and the grant timeline becomes part of the plan.
A grant makes a good project cheaper. It doesn't make a vague one good. So it might be best to start by mapping where AI fits in your business: which job to start with, what it touches, and what it would take. Do that before you ask anyone for a quotation, and certainly before anything is signed.
If you'd like a hand with the map, talk to us.
Figures checked against Enterprise Singapore, MDDI and Budget 2026 pages on 16 October 2026. Grant rules change: confirm on the EDGE page before you apply. This is general information, not advice on your eligibility.