FY2026 Factory Brand Development Project Proposal Call

This Niigata Prefecture subsidy supports factory brand development projects that help local production-area companies move from a business-to-business, dependent management model toward direct appeal and direct sales to consumers. The supported project must be an integrated effort covering brand strategy, product development, and market development, using external specialists or collaboration with different industries as a trigger. The local industry context is important: the guideline describes local industries as groups of SMEs rooted in Niigata’s history, climate, and management resources, and the target projects relate mainly to mining and industrial products produced or processed within the prefecture. Eligible applicants are enterprise groups of at least three parties, consisting of SMEs that have their head office in Niigata Prefecture and produce mining or industrial products related to local industries, together with a brand coordinator. The prefectural page explains the structure as two or more SMEs plus one brand coordinator. A brand coordinator is a person or business that oversees the whole factory brand by planning the brand concept and sales strategy; designers, companies with branding experience, retailers, wholesalers, and advertising businesses are examples. Organized crime groups, members, and persons with socially condemnable relationships with them are excluded. Eligible projects are those in which a factory-brand-building company appoints an external specialist or similar party as the coordinator for brand strategy, plans the brand concept and sales strategy, and works with companies in the production area or different industries to develop higher-value products, establish a direct-to-consumer sales structure, and introduce new sales methods. Establishing an in-house direct sales structure, such as an e-commerce site, is mandatory. Eligible costs include honoraria, travel, venue rental, venue setup, communication and shipping, printing, prototype and improvement costs, outsourcing including website or e-commerce systems, consumables up to 50,000 yen, equipment and fixture rental, and other costs recognized as especially necessary. The subsidy rate is up to one half, and the subsidy cap is 3,000 thousand yen per case, or 3 million yen. The official page states that applications are accepted from April 1, 2026 until the budget is exhausted, and the project period runs from the grant decision date to February 28, 2027. Activities started before the grant decision are ineligible. Applicants must first contact the prefecture with an overview of the proposed project, then submit the project plan and other materials after an interview. Screening focuses on targets such as profit margin, necessity, self-sustainability, future potential, project design, ripple effects on production areas and businesses, and bonus points for Partnership Building Declaration participants.