MALAYSIA DIGITAL
ACCELERATION GRANT – AI

Fast-track your Artificial Intelligence growth with up to RM 2 million in performance-based funding.

Applications open until 18th July 2025

What is MDAG-AI?

Malaysia Digital Acceleration Grant – Artificial Intelligence (MDAG-AI) is a strategic funding initiative by MDEC designed to accelerate the growth of Malaysia Digital companies that develop and commercialise AI solutions. It supports high-impact projects aligned with the national AI investment strategy, targeting companies with validated AI technologies across the Foundation, Enabling, and Application layers.

Malaysia Digital Promoted Sectors

We are supporting the development of technologies under Malaysia Digital's 9 key sectors:

Digital Agriculture

Digital Agriculture

Digital Services

Digital Services

Digital Cities

Digital Cities

Digital Health

Digital Health

Digital Finance

Digital Finance

Digital Trade

Digital Trade

Digital Content

Digital Content

Digital Tourism

Digital Tourism

Islamic Digital Economy

Islamic Digital Economy

*Not limited to the above-mentioned sector.

Incentive Amount

Incentive Amount

Up to 70% of the total cost or up to RM2 Million whichever is lower.

Grant Duration:

The quantum of funding period of up to one (1) year.

Application open until 18th July 2025

Scope of Evaluation

Scope Of Evaluation

  1. Company Background

    Reference should be past track record (where applicable), together with the branding and any other relevant information. Some criteria may include the following:

    • Brand name;
    • Expertise; and/or
    • Influence in industry such as awards or recognition
  2. Value Proposition (VP)

    a. VP Operational and Capital Expenditure Growth / Spillover

    • Local spending and capital growth, return of investment, benefits to Malaysia, both direct and indirect, where applicable; and
    • Other potential spill-over/benefits to local ecosystem and value-chain

    b. VP: Export / Jobs

    • Projected export revenue as a percentage of total revenue
    • Total knowledge worker
    • New knowledge worker that will be created
  3. AI

    AI technology ownership, AI development maturity, In-house AI research and development capabilities, AI solution category, AI impact and differentiation

  4. Others

    Academia linkages. Further details subject to MDEC discretion as it deems fit

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

  1. Eligible company

    1. Incorporated in Malaysia under Companies Act 1965 or the Companies Act 2016; and;
    2. Minimum issued share capital of at least RM50,000.00.
  2. In operation for at least one (1) year as of the date of submission.

  3. The Applicant/Recipient must be Malaysia Digital (MD) or MSC Malaysia status company;Or The Applicant must have an active submitted application for Malaysia Digital (MD) status company at the time of the Grant application.

  4. The Applicant/Recipient must have AI products and/or services that are segmented into any of these three primary layers:

    1. Foundation Layer (Infrastructure & Core Technology)

      • Consists of company(ies) and technology(ies) that provide the core building blocks of AI systems
        1. Computer hardware – accelerator chips optimized for model training and inference workloads.
        2. Cloud platforms & AI Infrastructure Company – Providing scalable cloud computing resources optimized for AI workloads (training, inference, data storage).
    2. Enabling Layer (Model Development & Deployment)

      • Focuses on transforming foundational technology(ies) into deployable, scalable tool(s) and service(s)
        1. Foundation Model Development & API Access: Taking large, pre-trained models and making them accessible via APIs for developers to build on top of. This often includes fine-tuning and adapting models for specific use cases.
        2. Custom models: Models released as trained weights
    3. Application Layer (AI-Enabled Solutions)

      • Includes end-user application(s) or AI-powered solution(s) tailored to specific sector(s) or general consumer(s)
        1. Applications: Application that use foundation models as they are or as customized for a specific use case.
        2. Consulting & Integration: Companies that help other businesses implement and customize AI solutions.

    *Reference: Statista Unleashing Artificial Intelligence's true potential; What is AI infrastructure? (IBM)

  5. Not the subject of liquidation/winding up/bankruptcy order and has no going concern issue*. [*If the Applicant/Recipient has going concern issue (as reported in their latest audited account), the Applicant/Recipient is to provide a letter of undertaking by the shareholder and/or authorised director (whichever applicable as per the Applicant/Recipient's level of authority) to undertake that in the event that their application is approved, the Applicant/Recipient shall perform its obligations under the terms and conditions to be issued by MDEC and the said shareholder and/or authorized director to provide financial support to the Applicant/Recipient to enable the Applicant/Recipient to meet its obligations and/or liabilities under the terms and conditions.]

  6. Director(s) and shareholder(s) of the eligible Applicant/Recipient to declare and disclose if there is any business relationship and/or family relationship with any of MDEC's Employee/Individual Consultant/director. The declarant shall not involve in the Grant and shall have no voting power in the decision-making process relating to the Grant. For avoidance of doubt, family would mean spouse, parent, grandparent, child, including adopted child and stepchild, grandchild, brother, sister, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, uncle, aunt, cousin.

  7. Director(s) and shareholder(s) of the eligible Applicant/Recipient to declare if they are under any litigation or legal proceeding. i.e. litigation/legal proceeding related to criminal offences, offences under any applicable laws, insolvency, or cases related to MDEC.

  8. Director(s) and shareholder(s) of the eligible Applicant to declare if they are blacklisted by Malaysian authorities/enforcement bodies including but not limited to Malaysian Anti - Corruption Commission (MACC), Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), Securities Commissions Malaysia (SC) and Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC). In the event, the director(s) and shareholder(s) are blacklisted, the said Applicant shall be disqualified.

  9. The Applicant/Recipient with common shareholder(s) can only apply for one (1) grant) administered by MDEC at any one time (this requirement is not applicable to registered and active Venture Capital Investors, accredited angel investor, registered market operator and government agencies e.g.: Equity Crowdfunding Platforms).

    Requirements for Venture Capitals:

    • The venture capitals are(is) required to invest its funds actively within a 10-year timeframe and/or be officially registered with local regulatory authorities and shall have a minimum of six (6) months in operation from the date of incorporation.

    Requirements for Angel Investors

    • The angel investor(s) MUST be registered, accredited by local association/body (Malaysian Business Angel Network) and hold less than 20% of equity ownership; or
    • Individual Angel Investors MUST fully fit into these three (3) criteria:

      1. Hold less than 20% of equity ownership;
      2. Does(do) not hold any directorship of the company; and
      3. Non-related party(ies) to the Applicant/Recipient.

    Sourced from MBAN: https://www.mban.com.my/about-us

  10. The Applicant/Recipient shall not have any on-going grant with MDEC/other government agencies.

    If the Applicant/Recipient previously has received any MDEC/government grant*, the Applicant/Recipient must:

    1. Demonstrate the completion of the funded project(s); and
    2. Declare any notice of non-compliance/breach being recorded during the period of the funded project(s). Past MDEC grant recipients can only reapply after one (1) year from the project completion date (grant closure email date) or duration as may be determined by the Approval Authorities only if required (internal information).

    *Limited to five (5) years records from the date of approval of the Grant

  11. The Director(s) and shareholder(s) of the Applicant/Recipient shall not owe any amounts to MDEC due to clawback issues from previous grants.

  12. Any other eligibility criteria as MDEC deems appropriate.

Specific Condition

Recipient must be approved MD or MSC Malaysia Status company:

  1. Throughout the Grant Period; or
  2. Upon final disbursement of the claimable amount

Required Documents for Application

Make sure you have all the neccesary documents for your application.

Application open until 18th July 2025

Required Documents

Application Process

Step 1

Step 1

Download "Application Kit"

Step 2

Step 2

Click "Apply Now"

Step 3

Step 3

Click "Start Application"
under "Application Form"

Proceed to "Log in or register"
with your credentials to GAIN Awards Platform

Step 4

Step 4

Select department and programme
Department - "Grants and Funding Facilitation"

Programme - "Malaysia Digital Acceleration Grant – Artificial Intelligence (MDAG-AI)"

Step 5

Step 5

Provide your company details and upload your application form with supporting documents

Step 6

Step 6

Click "Submit Application"
once completed

Step 7

Step 7

Completeness & compliance checking by MDEC

Step 8

Step 8

Pitching session
by applicant

Step 9

Step 9

Approval process

Step 10

Step 10

Application result

Frequently Asked Questions