SME New Business Expansion Subsidy (4th Round)

(1) Program overview: The SME New Business Expansion Subsidy (4th Round) supports Japanese SMEs that take on the challenge of entering business areas different from their existing operations, promoting expansion into new markets and high-value-added businesses. The goal is to enable productivity growth through scale expansion and value-added improvement, ultimately leading to wage increases. Applications are submitted via an electronic application system requiring a GBizID Prime account. (2) Eligible applicants: SMEs under the Small and Medium Enterprise Basic Act (manufacturing/construction/transport: capital up to JPY 300M / up to 300 regular employees; wholesale: 100M / 100; services: 50M / 100; retail: 50M / 50, etc.), non-SME legal entities with 300 or fewer employees (cooperatives, general foundations, agricultural cooperatives, workers cooperatives), and certain mid-size businesses with capital under JPY 1B. Excluded: companies less than 1 year old, with zero employees, deemed-large-enterprise entities, those with 3-year average taxable income exceeding JPY 1.5B, religious or political organizations. (3) Eligible expenses and program content: Machinery/system construction costs, building costs, transport, technology introduction, IP-related, outsourcing, expert fees, cloud service usage fees, advertising/promotion. Applicants must satisfy the New Business Expansion Requirement (product novelty, market novelty, new-business sales requirement), achieve 4.0% or higher CAGR of value-added, raise per-employee total salary by 3.5% or higher CAGR, maintain in-business-site minimum wage at least JPY 30 above regional minimum wage, publish a General Employer Action Plan, and obtain a financial institution confirmation if borrowing. (4) Subsidy rate, cap, schedule and key application points: Subsidy rate is 1/2 (or 2/3 with the wage-increase special exception). Caps depend on workforce: up to JPY 25M (30M with wage exception) for under 20 employees, 40M (50M) for 21-50, 55M (70M) for 51-100, 70M (90M) for 101+. Public call opens 27 March 2026, application reception begins 19 May 2026, deadline 19 June 2026 18:00 JST (strict), selection announcement September 2026. Project execution period is within 14 months of grant decision (within 16 months of selection). GBizID Prime takes around one week to issue, so apply early.