MDAG-AI — Malaysia Digital Acceleration Grant for Artificial Intelligence

MDAG-AI

Funds Malaysian artificial intelligence companies with MDAG-AI support for core AI platform development and commercialization readiness.

⚠ This may reflect a past cycle — verify the current call on the funder's site.

The Malaysia Digital Acceleration Grant for Artificial Intelligence (MDAG-AI) is an annual competitive grant administered by the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) to accelerate AI development and commercialisation among Malaysian companies. The program funds activities across all three technology layers: Foundation (infrastructure, hardware accelerators, cloud platforms), Enabling (model development, API access, custom models), and Application (end-user AI solutions, consulting, and integration services). Nine priority sectors are in scope: Digital Agriculture, Digital Services, Smart Cities, Digital Health, Digital Finance, Digital Trade, Digital Content, Digital Tourism, and Islamic Digital Economy.

Awards cover up to 70% of total project costs, capped at RM 2 million per company, with the recipient responsible for the remaining 30%. Funding is disbursed as performance-based reimbursement tied to KPI achievement — applicants must plan a cash-flow bridge, as payment is made after milestones are verified rather than upfront. The program runs on an annual cycle; the most recent call ran July 8–18, 2025, a window of only 10 days, making it one of the most compressed annual calls in the MDEC portfolio. Eligibility requires a Malaysia-incorporated company with at least RM 50,000 in issued share capital, a minimum of one year of operations, active Malaysia Digital or MSC Malaysia status (or a pending application), and no insolvency or blacklisting flags.

The application follows a seven-step process — downloading the grant kit, completing the online form via MDEC's GAIN Awards Platform, providing project details, and submitting for evaluation and a pitching session before final approval. Because the annual window is extremely narrow, prospective applicants should prepare documentation well in advance and monitor MDEC's official channels and the mdec.my/grants/mdag-ai page closely in mid-year 2026. Companies that successfully establish AI capabilities across Foundation, Enabling, or Application layers and can articulate measurable KPIs within the nine priority sectors are best positioned to compete.