SPRING’s Capability Development Grant is for Singapore Startups
It is no secret that Singapore has been consistently rated as world’s best place for forming a business. The recognition could not have been achieved without the support of its government. The authorities have left no stone unturned to transformed the Singaporean economy into a dynamic one.
The Small and Medium Enterprises’ (SMEs) contribution towards Singapore economy is immense. More than 50 percent of economic output and 70 per cent of employment in Singapore are derived from SMEs. In a bid to accelerate the growth of SMEs, the Singapore government has rolled out various funding and incentive schemes. One of those initiatives includes Capability Development Grant (CDG) program of SPRING (Standards, Productivity and Innovation Board). CDG undertaken by SPRING supports SMEs in their productivity and financial management capabilities for resilience and sustainable growth.
What is Capability Development Grant (CDG)?
The Capability Development Grant (CDG) is a government-aided financial assistance program that helps the small and medium entrepreneurs build capabilities in some specific areas for long-term business growth.
The specific areas included are- corporate structures, risk management framework, corporate governance & internal controls, financial reporting framework and investor relations.
Basically, this program aims to step up the level of technology innovation in local SMEs. Thus, Singapore incorporated SMEs that are interested in upgrading their capabilities in above-mentioned areas can tap this program to pay up to 70% of qualifying project costs.
Eligibility Criteria for applying CDG:
- The firm (company) must be incorporated and operating its business activity in Singapore
- Minimum 30% local shareholding
- Group annual sales turnover is not more than 100 Million SGD or Group employment size of the company is not more than 200 workers.
Step 1- Pre-Application Process:
Prior to filling up application, you must ensure that you have qualified the above-mentioned eligibility criteria and your areas of development relevant to the proposed project. Make sure that your project has not started yet. Below are the required documents that must be furnished with your application:
- Latest ACRA search or latest information (less than 6 months) of the company or shareholders (if any)
- Latest Audited financial statement (less than 1-year-old) of the company or consolidated financial account of the parent company (if applicable)
- Project proposal
- Applicable proof of quotation of the project costs items
- Consultant’s proposal (if applicable)
All projects, unless exempted, must prepare quantitative indicators such as total sales revenue and remuneration job creation indicator and submit to SPRING. It is notable that the projects under the areas of Human Capital Development – Leadership Development are exempted.
Step 2- Application Process:
The eligible applicant can log on to the SPRING Grant Portal and submit the online application. The entire process takes about 20 minutes to accomplish.
Step 3- Approval Process
Upon submission of application, a SPRING officer will contact the applicant. A meeting may be scheduled wherein applicant will be asked to provide more information about the project and the company. Revised application has to be made if previously submitted documents are incomplete.
Depending on the development area and industry sector, the applicant may ask to provide current and projected productivity indicator. All applications are subjected to SPRING’s approval process. Once the application has been approved, the applicant will receive an email notification where he/she will be asked to accept the Letter of Offer by log-in into the SPRING Grant Portal.
Corporate firms like SBS Consulting can assist the clients on financial management considering SPRING Singapore’s Capability Development Grant (CDG) program. If you wish to form a company in Singapore but do not have adequate capital, our consultants are there to help you out. The consultants are open to provide sound advice on other government grants and fund initiatives so that your long-awaited dream of Singapore company incorporation comes true.
