Fund Your AI Project in Malta

Yes. Neural AI's AI development, consulting, and implementation fees are eligible costs under all three Malta funding schemes. We structure our project agreements and invoices to meet the documentation requirements for grant claims. Subcontractor costs are typically eligible up to specified percentages of total project cost.

Scheme stacking (combining multiple grants on the same costs) is generally not permitted. However, you can sometimes apply different schemes to different components of an AI project — for example, Xjenza for the R&D component and Malta Enterprise for the implementation component. We advise on the most beneficial structure for each Malta project.

Malta Enterprise grant processing typically takes 3–6 months from application to approval. Payment is made on a reimbursement basis after costs are incurred and evidenced. Neural AI helps Malta businesses plan project timelines to account for funding approval and reimbursement cycles.

Xjenza R&D schemes require demonstrable research and development activity — not just AI implementation or deployment. Projects need to involve novelty: developing new AI models, solving a research question, generating new knowledge. Neural AI can structure AI development projects to include genuine R&D components — model architecture research, novel data pipeline approaches, domain-specific ML research — that qualify for Xjenza funding.

Fondi.eu's digitalisation scheme can fund up to 40% of eligible project costs (with the AI bonus) up to a maximum grant of €200,000 per project. For a €100,000 AI implementation project, this means up to €40,000 in grant funding for a Malta SME. Eligible costs include development fees, software licences, hardware, and training.

For most Malta funding schemes, you must apply and receive approval before incurring the costs you wish to claim. Starting the AI project before grant approval typically makes those costs ineligible. Neural AI recommends planning AI projects to include a funding application phase before development commences — we factor this into project timelines for clients seeking Malta grant funding.