What you’ll learn
- What changed on 30 September
- The schemes at a glance
- Start from your project, not the grant
- The EDGE Grant for AI and automation
- When the tax deduction beats a grant
- Rules that catch people out
If you read a guide last month telling you to apply for the Productivity Solutions Grant, it is now out of date. PSG, the Enterprise Development Grant (EDG) and Market Readiness Assistance stopped taking applications on 29 September 2026. From 30 September, Enterprise Singapore runs one scheme in their place, the EDGE Grant.
This guide covers what that means if you want to pay for AI in your business: a chatbot, a WhatsApp agent that answers enquiries, lead follow-up in a CRM, or a workflow that moves data between your tools. Every figure below comes from a government page, listed with its link at the end. We read them all on 1 October 2026.
What changed on 30 September
Enterprise Singapore’s wording is short: “EDG, MRA and PSG will cease on 29 September 2026. From 30 September onwards, apply for business grant support under the EDGE Grant.”
If you applied before 30 September, nothing changes for you. Those applications are still assessed under the old rules, and projects already approved are supported until the final claim is paid.
If you have not applied yet, EDGE is the scheme to look at. Businesses that used PSG, EDG or MRA before can still apply.
The schemes at a glance
| Scheme | Run by | Who it suits | Support | Custom AI build? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EDGE Grant | Enterprise Singapore | Any Singapore business with at least 30% local ownership | Up to 70% for SMEs, up to 50% for larger firms, capped at S$100,000 a year | Pre-approved chatbot and CRM packages. Custom work through Large-scale Digital Transformation |
| Enterprise Compute Initiative (ECI) | Digital Industry Singapore | Firms with 10 or more staff in Singapore and an in-house tech team of 2 or more | 70% of consulting costs, capped at S$105,000, plus cloud credits | Yes, through a listed consulting partner |
| Enterprise Innovation Scheme, AI deduction | IRAS | Any business paying tax in Singapore | 400% tax deduction on the first S$50,000 of qualifying AI spend a year | Development services bought from another company are named |
| Champions of AI | Enterprise Singapore and DISG | Leading companies planning company-wide AI change | Not published | Shortlisted companies only |
Most small businesses will use EDGE or the tax deduction. The ECI and Champions of AI are built for larger firms with their own tech teams.
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Free strategy call ›Start from your project, not the grant
Every grant guide we read starts with the scheme and works down. It is easier to start with what you want to build.
You want a ready-made AI chatbot. The government’s pre-approved list has AI chatbots on it, at least one of them for WhatsApp. Under PSG you had to buy the exact package from the listed vendor, “with no customisation”. Under EDGE this is the GenAI Customer Engagement Chatbot activity, where an SME gets up to 50% of a cost capped at S$15,000 and hears back in 1 week. You still pick a pre-approved package from IMDA’s SMEs Go Digital site, though you can now adjust parts of it, such as the number of licences.
You want a custom build: a WhatsApp agent trained on your services, CRM follow-up that chases your leads, or an n8n or Make workflow joined to your own systems. Under EDGE, whether you must use a pre-approved vendor “is dependent on the activity selected”. For some activities you can hire any vendor. Automation work falls inside a S$30,000 yearly sub-cap for “single-function digital solutions, integrated enterprise systems and selected automation activities”. We went through the list published on 30 September and no activity on it names a custom AI agent. The nearest is Large-scale Digital Transformation, which lists AI/ML and workflow automation among the technologies it expects, but it does not cover “automation of isolated tasks without broader business transformation”, and the project has to integrate or standardise systems such as sales and procurement.
You want a larger AI system and you have engineers. Look at the ECI. It pays 70% of a listed consulting partner’s fees to build a minimum viable product. You need at least 10 direct employees in Singapore, a tech team of 2 or more, and some experience building a custom AI solution before.
No grant fits, or the wait is not worth it. Look at the tax deduction below.
The EDGE Grant for AI and automation
You qualify if your business is registered in Singapore and at least 30% owned by Singapore citizens or PRs. EDGE is open to non-SMEs too, and other requirements “may apply, depending on the supportable activity”.
SMEs get up to 70% of the cost and larger firms up to 50%. The rate differs by activity, so 70% is the ceiling, not the rate every project gets. Each company can receive up to S$100,000 a year across all activities, and the cap resets on 1 April. Up to S$30,000 of that can go on digital solutions, enterprise systems and selected automation.
The grant is paid back to you. You pay the vendor in full first, finish the activity, then claim.
Three activities matter for AI and automation, and each pays up to 50% for SMEs and up to 30% for larger firms. The 70% rate is for other areas, such as internationalisation.
GenAI Customer Engagement Chatbot covers a ready-made chatbot from a pre-approved vendor. The cost is capped at S$15,000, so an SME gets back up to S$7,500. Only software costs for up to 12 months are covered.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) covers a pre-approved CRM for tracking leads and sales targets. The cost is capped at S$5,000, so up to S$2,500 back.
Large-scale Digital Transformation covers enterprise-wide projects that change how core operations run. Each application is assessed case by case, and the page does not mention a pre-approved vendor list. You apply with a project proposal and vendor quotes, plus financial statements and projections for three years after the project.
For the chatbot and CRM activities, you build your package on SMEs Go Digital first, then apply on the Business Grants Portal with Corppass. For Large-scale Digital Transformation you apply on the Business Grants Portal directly. BizSG lets you check if your company is eligible. Claims open on 1 November 2026 for chatbot and CRM projects and on 1 December 2026 for other activities.
When the tax deduction beats a grant
From YA 2027 to YA 2028, IRAS gives a 400% tax deduction on the first S$50,000 of qualifying AI spend each year. Qualifying spend includes AI systems you subscribe to or license, and AI services bought from another company, which IRAS lists as system development, consultancy and online platforms. Hardware is excluded.
A S$10,000 AI build bought from an outside developer could give you S$40,000 of deductions against your profit. There is no application to wait for, no pre-approved list and no 30-day wait before claiming. You claim it in your tax return.
The two do not stack. IRAS excludes “any expenditure subsidised by a grant or subsidy from the Government”, so you can only deduct the part of a cost a grant did not pay. There is no cash payout option for the AI deduction either, so it helps only if your business makes a taxable profit. Ask your accountant which route leaves you better off.
Rules that catch people out
Vendors cannot apply for you. PSG and EDG both said the company must apply for and manage the grant itself. A vendor offering to “handle the grant” is offering something the rules do not allow.
Watch when you pay. Under PSG you could not pay a deposit before you submitted. EDG went further: the project could not have started when you applied. EDGE keeps both rules: you must not have “started work or made any payment or deposit to a supplier, vendor, or third party” before you submit. Once you have submitted, you can pay before approval, but if the application is turned down, that cost is yours.
Marketing work was excluded from EDG: websites, SEO, SEM, social media management and ad spend. If your AI project is sold as a marketing package, check how the EDGE activity is worded before you assume it qualifies.
Grants pay back later. Budget for the full cost up front and for the wait. Under PSG, a solution had to be in use for 30 days and paid in full before you could claim.
About the S$10 million grant for micro firms
In January 2026 the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME) announced S$10 million in ring-fenced support for micro and small firms that would otherwise miss grant thresholds. ASME is an industry association, not a government agency, and it has not published who qualifies or how to apply. We could not find it on any government page.
Frequently asked questions
Can I still apply for PSG?
No. PSG took its last new applications on 29 September 2026. Applications sent before then are still assessed.
Is there a grant just for AI?
There is no single one for small businesses. AI is funded through EDGE, the ECI and the IRAS tax deduction. Champions of AI is only for leading companies.
Does a WhatsApp chatbot qualify?
At least one WhatsApp chatbot was on the PSG directory. Several chatbots on today’s pre-approved list work on WhatsApp, and under EDGE they fall under the GenAI Customer Engagement Chatbot activity. No EDGE activity names a custom WhatsApp agent, and the nearest one, Large-scale Digital Transformation, does not cover “automation of isolated tasks”.
Can I claim a grant and the tax deduction on the same cost?
No. The deduction only applies to the part of the cost no government grant paid.
Not sure which route fits your project?
Book a free 30-minute call. Tell us what you want AI to do, and we will tell you which scheme, if any, fits it and what the build would cost. You make the application yourself, as the rules require.
Sources, read on 1 October 2026
- Enterprise Singapore, EDGE Grant: enterprisesg.gov.sg/financial-support/edge-grant
- Enterprise Singapore, EDGE Grant FAQ: enterprisesg.gov.sg/resources/all-faqs/edge-grant
- Enterprise Singapore, EDGE activity list (Search for Activities) and the GenAI Customer Engagement Chatbot, CRM and Large-scale Digital Transformation pages: enterprisesg.gov.sg/financial-support/edge-grant
- Enterprise Singapore, Productivity Solutions Grant and FAQ: enterprisesg.gov.sg/financial-support/productivity-solutions-grant
- Enterprise Singapore, Enterprise Development Grant: enterprisesg.gov.sg/financial-support/enterprise-development-grant
- Digital Industry Singapore, Enterprise Compute Initiative and factsheet (10 Feb 2026): disg.gov.sg/enterprise-compute-initiative
- Enterprise Singapore, Champions of AI Programme: enterprisesg.gov.sg
- IRAS, Enterprise Innovation Scheme: iras.gov.sg/schemes/disbursement-schemes/enterprise-innovation-scheme-(eis)
- IMDA SMEs Go Digital, Chatbots for customer engagement: smesgodigital.gov.sg/web/category/220/chatbots-for-customer-engagement
- ASME, DAIS: dais.asme.org.sg
