Unlock Funding Opportunities: How Grant Advisory Services Fuel Your Business Growth

Summary

• Unlock Non-Dilutive Funding in Singapore: Government grants from agencies like Enterprise Singapore, A*STAR, and IMDA to fund key activities—such as R&D, technology adoption, and overseas expansion—enable cashflow without requiring you to give up equity in your company.

• Expert Grant Scoping: Mezzanine Enterprise saves you time by identifying the most relevant grants that align with your business objectives. Our team conducts a thorough eligibility assessment to focus your efforts on opportunities with the highest probability of success.

• End-to-End Application Management: From crafting a compelling narrative to preparing meticulous financial projections and managing submissions, we handle the entire application process. Our expertise maximises your chances of approval.

• Post-Award Compliance Support: Securing the grant is just the beginning. We assist with milestone reporting, financial claims, and audit preparations to ensure you remain compliant with all grant terms and conditions.

• Strategic Funding Partner: Think of us as your strategic partner in growth. We help you build a multi-grant strategy to optimise your funding success and unlock your business's full potential.

Developing new technologies, upgrading capabilities, training talent, and venturing into international markets — what is the unifying factor that ties these seemingly disparate business activities together?

Investment. While traditional avenues like loans and equities play a crucial role in fueling these activities, another powerful—often underutilised—resource can significantly accelerate your journey: government grants.

This is especially true in Singapore, where the government is renowned for its proactive support for businesses through an array of grants and incentive schemes that foster innovation, enhance productivity, and drive economic development. Representing a valuable source of non-dilutive funding, these grants often don’t require you to sacrifice your business’s equity.

Despite the benefits grants grant your business, there’s a catch: Singapore’s grant landscape is complex and highly fragmented, meaning there is a chance you may miss out on crucial ones due to them being too obscure. On top of this, you will also need to keep tabs on your eligibility and prepare substantial applications—this can be a daunting and time-consuming task for busy entrepreneurs and business leaders.

This is where dedicated grant advisory services enter the scene, acting as an enabler for your business to tap into these vital funding streams. This article serves as your quick-start guide to grant advisory services and why you should tap into the expertise of a corporate infrastructure specialist like Mezzanine Enterprise to handle your grant needs.

Level up your business game with salient government grants

By finding and working with the right government grants, your business stands to benefit from numerous strategic advantages. Given that many grants are designed to support innovation and research & development (R&D), you will be empowered to invest in projects that would otherwise be too costly to fund alone.

And if this innovation involves new technologies, automation, and equipment upgrades? Even better. Funding is often made available for such functions that drive operational efficiency and subsequent productivity gains, lowering the financial risk that may be incurred.

Grants also cover the human factor, providing your business with the support needed to subsidise training and upskilling programmes to align your employees’ skillsets with the demands of the ever-evolving world. 

Should your business seek overseas expansion, grants can help ease your transition beyond shores to establish an international presence. These same grants also double as official badges of national approval, in turn enhancing your business’s credibility with potential investors, partners, and customers.

Finally, grants don’t require you to give up ownership or control over your company. This is unlike equity financing, where you need to cede a certain percentage of your business to the investor funding your venture.

But wait, how do I navigate the grant maze?

Good question. Grants can and will be a boon for your business, but the journey to acquire them is arduous. From identifying and applying for grants to getting and maintaining approvals, the process is complex and time-consuming.

To start, numerous agencies like Enterprise Singapore, A*STAR, and IMDA offer a staggering array of grants, each grant coming with its own set of objectives, eligibility criteria, and application procedures. The onus falls on you to do your own research and find the most suitable grants for your business; some of these are not immediately obvious and may require you to dig deeply to identify them.

Complicating matters is the fact that these grants are further subject to the rules of their respective agencies. Staying abreast of each and every requirement requires pinpoint attention to detail, as misinterpreting even one criterion can lead to your whole application being rejected. 

And now we come to the application itself. This adds yet another layer of complexity to the overall process, as you need to prepare a compelling proposal that includes comprehensive project outlines and meticulous financial projections that are backed by reliable documentation. You will also need to clearly articulate how your business aligns with the grant’s objectives and demonstrate its ability to execute.

Should you be awarded the grant, the journey doesn’t end here. You will subsequently be required to adhere to strict reporting requirements, project monitoring, and audit obligations.

As you can see, the process of identifying, applying for, and maintaining grants requires a high level of finesse. Given the sheer number of hoops you have to jump through, you should outsource the work to a dedicated grant advisor to take care of the legwork.

Secure and maintain grants with Mezzanine Enterprise’s grant advisory services

Right here at Mezzanine Enterprise, we offer dedicated grant advisory as part of our Advisory services. We provide you with end-to-end grant advisory support, simplifying the grant conundrum into a manageable endeavour. 

We are committed to supporting you across every stage of the process:

1. Grant scoping and eligibility assessment

We begin by thoroughly understanding your business, current projects, and future aspirations. From here, we systematically identify the most relevant and high-potential grant schemes available through various government agencies. 

We don't just point you to a list, too; we curate opportunities that genuinely align with your strategic goals and assess your preliminary eligibility. This saves you countless hours of research and ensures you focus your efforts on grants where you have the highest probability of success.

2. Application preparation and submission

This is where our expertise truly shines. Once we’ve identified suitable grants, we work closely with your team to develop a compelling and robust application. This encompasses articulating your projects’ value propositions, outlining clear objectives and deliverables, developing realistic budgets and timelines, and gathering all necessary supporting documentation. 

To enhance the quality and persuasiveness of your application, we help you craft a narrative that resonates with grant evaluators, demonstrating your business’s capability and projects’ merit.

Once we’ve drafted your application, we manage the entire submission process on your behalf, ensuring we correctly complete all forms, meet every deadline, and handle communications with relevant grant agencies professionally. As your single point of contact, we streamline interactions and keep you informed at every step.

3. Grant fulfilment and compliance support

After you’ve secured your grant, we will further support you by ensuring your continued compliance with relevant terms, conditions, and reporting obligations. This may include assistance with project milestone reporting, financial claims submissions, and preparing for potential audits, enabling you to fully realise the benefits of the grant and maintain good standing with grant agencies. 

4. Funding strategy advisory

To further support you on your grant journey, we work with you to craft multi-grant strategies tailored to optimise your success rates across multiple funding opportunities.

Grant your business the gift of grant success

Don't let the complexity of the grant application process deter you from exploring these valuable funding opportunities. With Mezzanine Enterprise onboard, we will connect you to all relevant grant opportunities and fine-tune your application to maximise your success.

To further dial up your grant application success, you may also consider exploring our governance, risk, and compliance services. With robust governance and compliance structures in place, you signal high levels of financial transparency and operational soundness to grant providers.

Think of our grant advisory services as an investment to unlock future investment that takes the form of non-dilutive capital.

Find out how we can customise a grant advisory solution for your business’s needs.

Talk to us now!