SME Digitalisation Grant Scheme — Malta Enterprise's Tiered Digital-Transformation Grants

Malta Enterprise, the national economic development agency, launched the SME Digitalisation Grant Scheme as part of Malta's EU-funded Recovery and Resilience Plan and its Digital Decade Strategic Roadmap 2023–2030. The scheme gives micro, small and medium enterprises grants of up to €50,000 towards digital investments — e-commerce platforms, off-the-shelf and custom software, hardware, cloud computing, cybersecurity systems and related staff training — at an aid intensity of 50% of eligible costs (60% for businesses based in Gozo, a built-in regional-equity adjustment for Malta's smaller, less-developed sister island).
By June 2023, Malta's own Digital Decade Strategic Roadmap reported that 52 enterprises had engaged with the scheme and drawn down funding. The roadmap is candid about a parallel instrument, the Digital Intensification Grant Scheme, which saw only minimal uptake — a cautionary note the government attributes to the demographics of Malta's largely micro-enterprise business base and the scheme's own design, rather than to lack of need.
The government followed up with a larger successor, 'Digitalise Your SME' (Call 1, March 2025 – June 2026), which raised the budget to €5 million and restructured grants into tiers from €10,000 up to a base of €128,400, with additional top-ups for firms investing in AI, IoT, big data, cloud and quantum technologies — continuing the tiered-grant model rather than a one-off pilot.

Read the full analysis: https://economy.gov.mt/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Digital-Decade-Strategic-Roadmap-2023-2030.pdf