FY2026 Zero Emission Promotion Business Transformation Support (Product Development Subsidy)

This FY2026 'Zero Emission Promotion Business Transformation Support Program (Product Development Subsidy)' is operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Small and Medium Enterprise Support Center (公益財団法人東京都中小企業振興公社) Multi-purpose Support Department, Tama Branch. The program subsidizes a portion of the costs incurred by SMEs developing, improving, or adapting products that contribute to zero emissions, supporting entry into zero-emission related industries and contributing to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's 'Zero Emission Tokyo' vision (effective net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050). Eligible development/improvement/standard-conformance must fall under one of the seven policies of 'Zero Emission Tokyo Strategy Beyond Carbon Half': (1) renewable energy as primary energy, (2) zero-emission building expansion, (3) zero-emission mobility, (4) hydrogen energy expansion, (5) circular economy (resource use, plastics, food loss), (6) fluorocarbon countermeasures, (7) climate change adaptation. Eligible applicants must: (1) be SMEs (companies/individual proprietors meeting capital/employee thresholds, with no substantial large-company management participation); (2) corporations must have their registered head office or branch in Tokyo by the reference date (April 1, 2026) and have substantively conducted business at a Tokyo office for 1+ years OR have founded in Tokyo with less than 1 year of operation (treated as 'undecred-fiscal-year corporation'); individual proprietors must verify Tokyo-based tax-domicile via the tax-office-submitted personal-business notification copy with the same operating-period conditions; (3) conduct the development/improvement at the applicant's own office or factory, in principle in Tokyo (or expanded to the metropolitan area: Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Yamanashi, Gunma, Ibaraki, Tochigi); (4) not receive other subsidies for the same theme/content from the Center, national, prefectural, or municipal governments; only one application per company per fiscal year for this program; no current arrears (including installment plans) for business taxes; no fraud or improper conduct in subsidies in the past 5 years; not an anti-organized-crime ordinance violator; not in adult entertainment, gambling, or other socially inappropriate businesses. Five eligible expense categories: (1) Raw materials and auxiliary materials (raw materials/parts directly consumed in the prototype); (2) Machinery and tool equipment (prototype molds, measurement instruments, servers, software, etc.; 100K+ JPY purchases require 2+ quotes; lease/rental OK; second-hand purchase and own-equipment improvements excluded); (3) Outsourcing and commission costs (external delegation of work not feasible in-house, including expert guidance fees and standards-certification fees; 1M+ JPY contracts require 2+ quotes; third-party re-outsourcing and dispatched-labor excluded); (4) Direct personnel costs (R&D-process personnel cost by hourly rate × working time; max 5M JPY subsidy application amount; max 8 hours/day and 1,800 hours/year per person; overtime, holiday work, and individual proprietor's own remuneration excluded); (5) Real estate rental (facilities for testing/evaluation; max 2.5M JPY subsidy application; deposits, key money, brokerage, common fees excluded). General-purpose PCs/cameras, transactions with affiliates, indirect costs (consumption tax, transfer fees, communication, utilities), building-related fixtures, research surveys, meeting costs, and office consumables are excluded. Max subsidy: 15,000,000 JPY; subsidy rate: up to 2/3 of eligible expenses; subsidy period: up to 1 year 6 months from grant decision (planned February 1, 2027). Application submission window: June 1, 2026 (Mon) to September 8, 2026 (Tue) 17:00, exclusively via the national e-application system 'Jgrants' (GBizID Prime account required). First-stage screening (document review) September-October 2026; second-stage (site survey / face-to-face interview) November-December 2026; comprehensive review committee; grant decision planned February 1, 2027. Required documents include: Application Form (designated format, implementation/financial plans), Supplementary explanation (optional, within 30 pages), Quote copies (machinery 100K+ JPY and outsourcing 1M+ JPY: 2+ quotes each), Tax returns (most recent 2 fiscal years: tables 1-16, financial statements, account-item breakdowns, business overview, income/expense statements), Representative's most-recent 2 years of withholding tax receipts, Cash-flow projection, Funding-capacity evidence (e.g., bank balance certificate), Commercial registry (履歴事項全部証明書, issued within 3 months), Individual-business notification copy, Corporate enterprise/Tokyo metropolitan tax certificates, Representative's income tax certificate Type 1, Resident tax certificate, Company history/CV (or company profile/overview).