Short answer: no. The Productivity Solutions Grant funds pre-approved, off-the-shelf solutions from a fixed vendor list. A custom-built application — even one that would genuinely make your business more productive — does not qualify simply because it fits your needs better than anything on the list.
This trips up a lot of Singapore SMEs. You find a workflow problem, you get a quote for a custom tool, someone mentions "PSG covers 50%," and the project gets budgeted on an assumption that turns out to be wrong. Below is what PSG actually covers, which grant applies to bespoke development, and how to sequence the two so you don't accidentally disqualify yourself.
What the PSG actually funds
The Productivity Solutions Grant is administered by Enterprise Singapore, under the broader SMEs Go Digital programme run by IMDA. It co-funds up to 50% of qualifying costs, subject to an annual cap of S$30,000 per company per financial year (1 April to 31 March, applied across all PSG claims in that year).
The operative word is pre-approved. PSG works from a catalogue: you browse eligible solutions on GoBusiness Gov Assist, pick one, and get a quotation from the listed vendor that matches the listed package. Typical categories include accounting software, HR and payroll systems, CRM, inventory management, e-commerce platforms, cybersecurity tools, and various sector-specific products.
Standard eligibility looks like this:
- Registered and operating in Singapore
- At least 30% local shareholding
- Meets Enterprise Singapore's SME definition (group annual turnover not more than S$100 million, or group employment not more than 200)
- The solution is deployed and used in your Singapore operations
Two procedural points that cause the most grief:
- Apply before you pay. Applications go through the Business Grants Portal using Corppass, and must be submitted before any payment or deposit to the vendor. Pay first and you've forfeited the claim.
- It's a reimbursement, not an advance. You pay the vendor in full, deploy the solution, use it for the required minimum period, then claim back the co-funded portion.
Approval typically runs around four to six weeks.
Why custom builds fall outside it
PSG's entire design assumes a standardised product with a standardised price. Enterprise Singapore has vetted the vendor, the feature set, and the package cost in advance — that's what allows the fast, light-touch approval process.
A custom application has none of those properties. The scope is specific to you, the price is negotiated, and there's no pre-vetted package to point at. So an unlisted product or vendor cannot be claimed under PSG regardless of how well it solves the problem.
There's a grey area worth naming honestly: some vendors offer configurable listed products where a meaningful amount of setup work happens. That's still the listed package being deployed, not a bespoke build. If a vendor tells you they can put genuinely custom development through PSG by billing it against a listed solution, treat that as a serious red flag — it's the vendor's listing on the line, and it's your claim that gets clawed back.
The grant that does cover custom development: EDG
The Enterprise Development Grant is the one built for bespoke projects. Where PSG buys a product, EDG funds a project you define yourself and submit as a proposal.
Key differences that matter for a software build:
| PSG | EDG | |
|---|---|---|
| What it funds | Pre-approved off-the-shelf solutions | Custom, project-based transformation |
| Support level | Up to 50% of qualifying costs | Up to 50% for SMEs, up to 30% for non-SMEs |
| Funding cap | S$30,000 per company per financial year | No funding cap |
| Typical approval time | ~4–6 weeks | ~8–12 weeks |
| Application | Pick from catalogue via BGP | Written project proposal via BGP |
EDG sits across three pillars — Core Capabilities, Innovation and Productivity, and Market Access. Most custom software work lands under Innovation and Productivity: process redesign, workflow automation, systems integration, building a tool that doesn't exist off the shelf.
Qualifying costs generally include third-party consultancy and vendor fees, software and equipment tied to the project, and internal manpower for staff working directly on it. Recurring SaaS subscription fees are usually not covered unless they're clearly part of initial deployment.
One detail that saves people money: EDG normally requires management consultants to hold TR 43 or SS 680 certification, but technical specialists — including software developers — are exempt from that requirement. You don't need to route a development project through a certified management consultancy to make it eligible.
Assessment focuses on depth of transformation and demonstrable business outcomes. A proposal that says "we want a better system" tends to go nowhere. One that says "this process currently takes 14 staff-hours per week across three people, and here is the measured baseline we intend to change" gets taken seriously. Claims must reach Enterprise Singapore within six months of the end of the project qualifying period.
What's changing: the EDGE grant
Announced at Budget 2026, Enterprise Singapore is consolidating EDG, PSG and the Market Readiness Assistance grant into a single scheme called EDGE (Enterprise Development for Growth and Expansion), expected to launch in the second half of 2026.
The headline shift is from grant-matching to activity-matching: instead of working out which of three schemes your project belongs to, you apply once based on what you actually intend to do. Published material indicates support of up to S$100,000 per year for eligible activities, and eligibility extending to all Singapore-registered businesses rather than SMEs only.
Detailed qualifying criteria and support levels had not been fully published at the time of writing. Until EDGE launches, PSG, EDG and MRA all remain operational and you should apply under the current framework.
Should you wait? Generally, no — if you have a project with a real business case and a defined window, the cost of a six-month delay usually exceeds the difference in funding. If your project is genuinely flexible on timing and sits near the EDG cap dynamics, it's worth a conversation with Enterprise Singapore before committing. We work through that timing decision case by case in the EDGE grant and your software project.
A practical sequence
For most SMEs, the sensible order is:
- Buy standard where standard works. Accounting, payroll, CRM — take the PSG route. It's faster, cheaper, and there's no strategic advantage in building your own general ledger.
- Build only where the process is your differentiator. If a workflow is genuinely specific to how you operate and no product fits it, that's the custom case — and the EDG case.
- Define the project before you apply. EDG assessment rewards specificity. You need scope, expected outcomes, and a cost breakdown before the application is worth submitting, which means the scoping work has to happen first.
That last point is where most applications stall. Writing a proposal that can be assessed requires knowing what you're building, what it costs, and what measurable thing changes — and that's a scoping problem, not a paperwork problem.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use PSG and EDG together? Yes, but not for the same project component. PSG is for off-the-shelf solutions, EDG for deeper custom work. A common pattern is PSG for core operational software and EDG for the bespoke layer built around it.
Can I claim PSG for a custom website? Some website and e-commerce packages are listed as pre-approved PSG solutions. A bespoke web application built to your specification is not the same thing. Check whether the specific package you're quoted appears on the approved list.
Does the S$30,000 PSG cap reset? It applies per company per financial year, running 1 April to 31 March, across all PSG claims in that year.
Do I need a certified consultant for an EDG software project? Not for the development work itself. Technical specialists including software developers are exempt from the TR 43 / SS 680 consultant certification requirement. Management consultancy components of a project are a different matter.
Grant terms, caps and eligibility criteria are set by Enterprise Singapore and change without notice. This article reflects publicly available information as of August 2026 and is not official government advice. Verify current requirements on the Enterprise Singapore website and the Business Grants Portal before applying.
Most custom software projects fail their grant application for the same reason they fail commercially: the scope was never defined tightly enough to be assessed. A Planning & Scoping engagement produces the scope, technical approach and cost breakdown you need — for the application and for the build itself.