SME Labor-Saving Investment Subsidy (Catalog Order Type)

① Overview: This nationwide catalog-order subsidy helps SMEs facing labor shortages introduce registered labor-saving products such as IoT equipment and robots. It aims to improve productivity and wages. ② Eligible applicants: Applicants must be SMEs or similar organizations doing business in Japan. Companies, sole proprietors, eligible cooperatives, NPOs, social welfare corporations, and some care-service entities may qualify if they meet size, labor shortage, wage, and no-duplicate-subsidy requirements. ③ Eligible costs: Eligible costs are the catalog product body price and implementation costs such as installation, transportation, checks, and settings. Purchased products generally need a unit body price of at least JPY 500,000. Implementation costs are eligible up to 20 percent. ④ Rate and schedule: The rate is up to one half. The maximum is JPY 10 million, or JPY 15 million when wage targets are met. Rolling applications began June 25, 2024 until around September 2026.