EDGE 2026: the new SG SME grant landscape and how to fund AI under it

Update, 5 October 2026. EDG, MRA and PSG ceased on 29 September 2026, and the EDGE Grant has taken applications since 30 September 2026. EnterpriseSG's FAQ states support of up to 50% of eligible costs for SMEs and up to 30% for non-SMEs on most activities, and up to 70% for SMEs and 50% for non-SMEs on internationalisation and sustainability activities, within a S$100,000 annual cap per company. This post was first written in April from secondary sources and has been brought up to date with those rules. Where a figure below still differs, EnterpriseSG is right. The current rules, with sources, are on our grants page.

Singapore has folded EDG, PSG and MRA into one grant. It is called EDGE and it took its first applications on 30 September 2026. The rules around AI funding are at once tighter and more generous, and that changes how to scope a project today.

What changed

Budget 2026 folded the Enterprise Development Grant (EDG), Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG) and Market Readiness Assistance (MRA) into EDGE. The name is not short for anything: EnterpriseSG's FAQ says EDGE is not an acronym (EnterpriseSG EDGE FAQ).

One grant now does the work of three, but you still have to place the project. EDGE is applied for by activity: EnterpriseSG lists over 150 of them across 8 business areas, and the activity sets the support level, the processing time and whether you must use a pre-approved vendor (EnterpriseSG EDGE Grant). EnterpriseSG describes EDGE as a scheme that "streamlines the Market Readiness Assistance (MRA), Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG), and Enterprise Development Grant (EDG) into a single scheme" (EnterpriseSG Budget 2026).

The numbers to work from, per EnterpriseSG's FAQ: up to 50% of eligible costs for SMEs and 30% for non-SMEs on most activities, including digital and automation work, and up to 70% for SMEs and 50% for non-SMEs on internationalisation and sustainability activities. The cap is S$100,000 per company per year across all activities, refreshed on 1 April, and no more than S$30,000 of it can go to single-function digital solutions, integrated enterprise systems and selected automation (EnterpriseSG EDGE FAQ).

EDGE also widens the door. The scheme "will be available to all Singapore businesses, including non-SMEs" (EnterpriseSG), so mid-sized firms above the SME threshold can apply too, just at the lower co-funding tier.

Timeline and transition rules

EnterpriseSG ended EDG, MRA and PSG on 29 September 2026. The EDGE Grant has taken applications since 30 September 2026 (EnterpriseSG EDGE Grant).

Applications submitted before 30 September are still assessed under the rules of the scheme they were made under, and ongoing projects are supported through to completion and claim. Having used EDG, MRA or PSG before does not stop a company applying for EDGE (EnterpriseSG EDGE FAQ).

One change came in ahead of EDGE itself. From 1 April 2026, MRA support rose to 70% for SMEs and the S$100,000 cap (per new market) was extended (EnterpriseSG Budget 2026, GovMedia).

A second change was due with EDGE. GovMedia reported that the old "new to target overseas market" rule would go, so grant money could deepen a presence in a market the firm is already in, as well as open a fresh one (GovMedia). Check the internationalisation activity you apply under for the rule as it now stands.

So there is no scheme left to choose between. Find the EDGE activity your project fits, and whether that activity needs a pre-approved vendor, before you scope the work.

How AI projects fit under EDGE

EDG covered AI work across "process redesign using AI to optimise workflows, automation implementing AI-powered systems, product development integrating AI features, and data analytics building AI-driven business intelligence capabilities" (Innovatrix Infotech).

EDGE carries that work over, one activity at a time. One activity that names AI is Large-scale Digital Transformation: it lists AI/ML among the technologies a project can use, pays up to 50% for SMEs and 30% for non-SMEs, and asks for measurable impact on growth and efficiency and for integration or standardisation across systems. A smaller build such as an internal copilot or document processing may sit under a different activity, with a different support level and vendor rule, so check the activity list first.

Under EDG, an AI project had to clear four tests: real technology (ML, NLP or computer vision, not a rebadged Excel macro), some level of innovation, demonstrable business impact, and capability development inside the firm (Innovatrix Infotech). Each EDGE activity now sets its own criteria, but those four are still a fair way to stress-test a proposal.

That last one is where most rejected AI applications fall over. EnterpriseSG is not paying for a vendor handover. They are paying for the SME to actually operate the AI after the consultants leave the building.

The applications that get through tend to share three things. A named workflow and a named team that owns it. Data sources spelled out, not handwaved. And a clear path for the SME to keep running the system once the engagement ends, with training, documentation and exit criteria written in.

"We will buy a chatbot from vendor X" almost never funds. "We will deploy an AI agent on our internal sales workflow, train two staff to maintain prompts and data pipelines, and reduce response time on supplier quotes from 48 hours to under 4" usually does.

This is roughly how we build at Altronis. Our CRM and ERP layer is Lyra. Our news pipeline runs on Qwen3.6 35B-A3B locally on a Strix Halo workstation, pulling 91 items a week across 16 sources, and our open-source MCP for SG government data is sgdata-mcp. The shape of an EDGE-fundable AI build looks much the same: defined workflow, measurable outcome, internal capability built alongside the vendor work.

Stacking with EIS: the 400% tax deduction is a separate lever

EDGE is a co-funding grant. EIS is a tax deduction. Different agencies run them, and the two stack.

EIS lets businesses claim enhanced tax deductions of up to 400% on the first S$400,000 of qualifying R&D expenditure in Singapore per basis period (IRAS EIS page).

Budget 2026 extended EIS to cover AI specifically. Businesses can claim 400% deductions on up to S$50,000 of qualifying AI expenditure per Year of Assessment, applicable to YA 2027 and YA 2028 (Paul Wan & Co). IRAS has since published the conditions: hardware such as servers, storage and computing equipment does not count, and spending subsidised by a government grant or subsidy is excluded (IRAS EIS page).

A worked example. An S$100,000 AI project gets S$50,000 of EDGE co-funding at the 50% rate. The SME's own S$50,000, if it clears the EIS-qualifying tests, yields a 400% deduction - roughly S$34,000 of tax saved at the 17% corporate rate (IRAS). Net cash out the door, after both: about S$16,000.

Two caveats sit behind that example. The EIS cash-payout option does not apply to AI expenditure (Alvarez & Marsal), so the AI portion can only be used as a deduction. And IRAS excludes spending subsidised by a government grant, so the EDGE-funded slice is not deductible on top. Ask your tax adviser whether the firm's own share of a grant-funded project counts before relying on the number.

For a profitable SME, EIS is a meaningful second layer of relief. For a loss-making one, EIS on AI does not convert to cash - it sits in the books as a deferred benefit until the company is in the black.

Practical action steps for SG SMEs in 2026

1. Find the EDGE activity before you scope the project. The activity sets the support level, the processing time and whether you must use a pre-approved vendor. Apply before signing vendors or paying anything, including a deposit: EnterpriseSG does not support retrospective applications (EnterpriseSG EDGE FAQ).

2. Scope around an internal workflow, not a tool purchase. Grant officers fund capability uplift. Frame the proposal around the team that will run the AI system, the workflow it improves, and the outcomes that will be measured.

3. Separate EDGE-eligible costs from EIS-eligible costs from day one. IRAS excludes grant-subsidised spending from the EIS AI deduction, so any claim on the firm's own share needs books clean enough to show which dollar paid for what.

4. Read what IRAS counts as qualifying AI expenditure. The conditions are on the IRAS EIS page, and hardware is out. Model the finance plan as if EIS were not available. Treat any EIS deduction as upside.

5. For overseas expansion, look at the internationalisation activities. EnterpriseSG's FAQ puts them at up to 70% for SMEs and 50% for non-SMEs, above the 50% most activities pay (EnterpriseSG EDGE FAQ).

The grant landscape is not the bottleneck. The bottleneck is having a clearly scoped AI project with named owners, a measurable outcome, and a plan to keep operating the system once the vendor walks out.

Where to start

For scoped AI builds with grant-aware project structuring, book a 30-minute call. 30 minutes, no slides, no obligation.