Subsidy for SMEs' Website Creation/Renewal Costs (Chuo City)

This subsidy from Tokyo's Chuo City supports small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and sole proprietors located in the ward by covering part of the cost of creating a new website or fully renewing an existing one. For Fiscal Year R8 (2026), applications are split into a first half (May 1 - September 30) and a second half (October 1, 2026 - January 29, 2027). The first-half acceptance window has already closed; the second-half window opens at 09:00 on October 1, 2026. Acceptance is on a first-come, first-served basis and stops once the annual budget is exhausted. Eligible applicants are SMEs as defined by Article 2(1) of the SME Basic Act that have their head office (corporations) or main place of business (sole proprietors) within Chuo City. Three application tracks exist: (1) General Track for entities that have operated in the ward for at least one year and have no arrears of corporate or individual enterprise tax or resident tax; (2) Startup Track A for entities founded within Chuo City less than one year ago; and (3) Startup Track B for those planning to start a business in the ward who can submit a corporate registry extract or sole-proprietor opening notice within three months after applying. Deemed-large corporations and adult-entertainment businesses are ineligible. Eligible expenses are commissioning fees paid to a third-party vendor whose principal business is verified to be web production, covering (a) creation of a brand-new website, (b) full renewal of an existing site (mere image swaps or page additions do not qualify), and (c) domain acquisition fees when creating a new site. Server/hosting fees, in-house production costs, hardware purchase or rental, work outsourced to related parties, consumption tax, and any expense paid before the grant decision are excluded. The subsidy rate is one-half (1/2) of eligible expenses for the General Track and two-thirds (2/3) for both Startup Tracks, capped at JPY 300,000 (truncated below the thousand). Applications must be submitted via the LoGo electronic form before the website work begins. Screening takes roughly one month; once the grant is approved the recipient builds and publishes the site, completes the project by March 31, 2027, and submits a performance report (financial statement, receipts, screenshots of the finished site) within one month of completion to receive the disbursement by bank transfer.