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Funding for your digitalisation project.

Malta Enterprise and EU schemes cover 50% to 85% of the cost of custom software, web applications, e-commerce, SaaS subscriptions and the hardware that runs them. We build the project. Our partners handle the paperwork.

Check if you qualify → Compare the schemes →

The Situation

The money is there. The rules are specific.

Two schemes currently fund software projects for Maltese businesses. Digitalise your SME, run through fondi.eu with EU money, pays a cash grant of 50% in Malta and 60% in Gozo, up to €128,400. Micro Invest, run by Malta Enterprise, returns 65% in Malta and 85% in Gozo as a tax credit, up to €65,000 over three years. Both treat custom software, websites, e-commerce and SaaS subscriptions as eligible spend. The catch is in the detail: what counts, when you are allowed to start, how many quotes you need, and how the invoice has to be worded. We have been the technical supplier on multiple approved applications, so we scope and quote projects in the form the schemes expect. For the application itself we connect you with partners who do nothing else.

The Schemes

Two routes. Different money, different rules.

Figures below are taken from the Digitalise your SME Guidance Notes V2.0 (June 2026) and the Micro Invest 2026 to 2030 Incentive Guidelines V1.0 (May 2026). Schemes change; we check the current version before we quote.
Digitalise your SME (fondi.eu) Micro Invest (Malta Enterprise)
What you get Cash grant, reimbursed against paid invoices Tax credit, set against tax on business profits
Rate 50% Malta, 60% Gozo. Extra 10% on cloud, AI and cyber security items 65% Malta, 85% Gozo
Range Minimum grant €25,000. Maximum €120,000 plus a 7% flat rate, so €128,400. AI projects can add up to €107,000 more Maximum €65,000 over any three years. Plus €20,000 if based in Gozo, a registered family business, female-owned or a social enterprise
Who Micro, small and medium businesses trading in Malta (under 250 staff, under €50m turnover) Businesses with 1 to 50 full-time employees, VAT registered. Self-employed included
Custom software and web apps Eligible Eligible, with a signed agreement specifying functionality before work starts
Websites and e-commerce Eligible Eligible
SaaS subscriptions First two years of the subscription Set-up and customisation plus the first twelve months of licence fees
Hosting and maintenance Not eligible Eligible when bundled with the new solution. Renewals are not
Hardware Eligible (POS terminals, networking, laptops, tablets and similar) Eligible. Portable devices limited to one per full-time employee
Timing Apply first, start after approval. Cut-off dates roughly every two weeks until 14 December 2026 Spend first, claim later. Costs from 1 January 2026 onwards, claimable from 2027, up to three years back
Both schemes are de minimis aid. A single business can receive at most €300,000 in de minimis aid over three years, from all sources combined.

Digitalise your SME

This is the larger of the two and the one to use for a platform build, an ERP or CRM roll-out, or anything with an AI component. It is EU co-financed and administered through fondi.eu. The grant is a percentage of your eligible cost: 50% in Malta, 60% in Gozo, with a 7% flat rate added on top of the grant to cover indirect costs. Items classed as cloud computing, artificial intelligence, cyber security, IoT or big data attract a further 10%. On an €80,000 custom web application in Malta that works out at €40,000 grant plus €2,800 flat rate, so €42,800 back.

The minimum grant is €25,000, which in practice means a project of at least €50,000 in Malta or about €42,000 in Gozo. The application is scored out of 100 and needs at least 50 to be funded. Each item needs either three comparable quotes from unrelated suppliers against a written specification, or an investment proposal document. A pre-project digital intensity assessment from the Malta Digital Innovation Authority is compulsory. Nothing can be ordered, started or paid for before the grant agreement is signed, and the asset has to stay in use for three years after the final payment.

Subscription software is handled sensibly: the value of a two-year subscription counts as the eligible cost, even if the full two years is not paid within the project period. Repair, maintenance and support bundles are excluded, as is VAT. The call is rolling with cut-off dates roughly every two weeks up to 14 December 2026, subject to budget. Delivery windows are fixed at 6, 12, 18 or 24 months from the agreement.

Micro Invest

Micro Invest is national, quicker and works in the other direction: you make the investment, then claim a tax credit on it. The 2026 to 2030 version raised the rate from 45% to 65% (85% in Gozo) and the cap from €50,000 to €65,000 over any three-year period. Businesses in Gozo, registered family businesses, female-owned businesses and social enterprises get a further €20,000 on the cap. It is open to any business with at least one employee and no more than fifty, including self-employed people.

The digital solutions section of the guidelines names packaged software, the customisation and set-up of SaaS solutions including the first twelve months of licence fees, and development and customisation costs for software systems, websites and digital applications. Hosting and maintenance are eligible when they are tied to the new solution, so a build with its first-year hosting on the same agreement is covered. Subscription renewals and standalone maintenance are not. Each invoice has to be at least €500 excluding VAT. For development work, the guidelines require an agreement signed before work starts that specifies the functionality to be delivered, which is how we write our proposals anyway.

Costs incurred from 1 January 2026 fall under the new scheme. You submit one application a year, covering up to the three previous calendar years, so 2026 spend is first claimable in 2027. The credit is set against tax on profits from the same business within five years of assessment. It is not a refund, so a business with no taxable profit in that window gets nothing from it, and should look at Digitalise your SME instead.

What We Deliver

The technical side, end to end.

A funded project is still a project. Our job is the part that gets built, installed and kept running. Everything is scoped and invoiced in the form the schemes need.

How It Works

From first call to final claim.

Is This You?

A quick fit check.

Digitalise your SME is probably right if:

  • the project is €50,000 or more, or €42,000 in Gozo

  • you can wait for approval before starting, and deliver within 6 to 24 months

  • you would rather have cash back than a tax credit, for example because profits are thin or you are a start-up

  • there is a cloud, AI or cyber security component that earns the extra 10%

Micro Invest is probably right if:

  • the project is under €50,000, or you want to start now

  • you have 1 to 50 employees and expect to pay tax on profits in the next five years

  • you want hosting and maintenance covered alongside the build

  • you are in Gozo, or run a registered family business, a female-owned business or a social enterprise, and can use the higher cap

Neither scheme will help if:

  • you have already ordered or paid for the work and want the EU grant (Micro Invest may still apply)

  • your own business develops or sells software, which excludes you from claiming software under Digitalise your SME

  • you are in gambling and betting, primary agriculture or fishing, or have negative net assets

  • you have already used your €300,000 de minimis allowance in the last three years

Not sure where you land? A fifteen-minute call is usually enough to tell.

FAQ

Questions we get asked.

  • Digitalise your SME pays 50% of eligible costs in Malta and 60% in Gozo as a grant, with a 7% flat rate added on top, up to €128,400 per project. Micro Invest returns 65% in Malta and 85% in Gozo as a tax credit, capped at €65,000 over three years, or €85,000 for businesses in Gozo, registered family businesses, female-owned businesses and social enterprises.

  • Yes, under both schemes. Digitalise your SME lists commercial off-the-shelf and custom software as eligible digital solutions. Micro Invest lists development and customisation costs for software systems, websites and digital applications, provided there is an agreement signed before work starts that specifies the functionality to be developed.

  • Yes. Under Digitalise your SME the cost of a two-year subscription counts as the eligible cost item. Under Micro Invest the set-up and customisation of a SaaS solution is eligible together with the first twelve months of licence fees, and you must show the payments are a first subscription to that service. Renewals are not eligible under either scheme.

  • Yes. Micro Invest names websites and digital applications explicitly. Digitalise your SME treats them as digital solutions, and having an e-commerce site is one of the twelve digital intensity indicators the scheme measures, which can lift the aid rate by a further 5% if the project takes you past seven of the twelve.

  • Under Micro Invest, maintenance agreements and hosting linked to the new solution are eligible, so we quote them on the same agreement as the build. Renewal fees and standalone maintenance are not. Under Digitalise your SME, repair, maintenance and support bundles are excluded altogether, so we quote them separately and outside the grant.

  • Yes. Both schemes fund hardware. Digitalise your SME lists laptops, tablets, monitors, routers, switches and Wi-Fi equipment among eligible items, and POS terminals fall under other digital solutions. Micro Invest covers digital equipment required for the business, with portable devices limited to one per full-time employee. Under the EU scheme, general-purpose devices like laptops and tablets do not attract the extra 10% for cloud and AI items.

  • Not under Digitalise your SME. Work, orders and deposits may only begin after the grant agreement is signed, and anything started earlier is ineligible. Micro Invest works the other way: you make the investment first and claim the tax credit in a later year, covering up to the three previous calendar years.

  • For Digitalise your SME, yes: each item needs either three comparable quotes from unrelated suppliers against a written minimum specification, or an investment proposal document. Micro Invest does not require competing quotes, but every invoice must be at least €500 excluding VAT and development work needs a signed functionality agreement dated before the work began.

  • No. We focus on the technical delivery and connect you with partners who specialise in Malta Enterprise and EU funding applications. We supply everything they need from our side: the specification, itemised quote, timeline and, for the EU scheme, the data for the digital intensity assessment. We have been the technical supplier on multiple approved applications.

  • Not on the same costs. A cost item can only be supported once from public funds, and both schemes recover aid with interest if the same invoice is claimed twice. Different items on different agreements can go through different schemes, and both count towards the €300,000 de minimis ceiling a single business can receive over three years.

  • Digitalise your SME is a rolling call with cut-off dates roughly every two weeks up to 14 December 2026, subject to budget, and projects must be completed by 30 June 2029. Micro Invest applications can be submitted at any time; costs from 1 January 2026 are claimable from 2027, and the scheme runs to 31 December 2030. Costs incurred in 2025 fall under the previous Micro Invest, with late submissions accepted until 25 November 2026.