Are you a startup looking to open your first offices? Or are you a scaleup who is looking to expand your company? Opening office locations is an integral, but pricey, step in growing your business, and Sapporo city in Hokkaido, Japan wants to help. They offer subsidies for office establishment and relocation costs that can help support you in achieving your business growth goals!

If office space isn’t what you’re looking for, Sapporo city can also provide you with support to raise sufficient funds to set up your own R&D center in Hokkaido!

This subsidy is available to both startups and scaleups that are looking to relocate their headquarter offices, establish new inbound call centers or internal administrative offices, establish new or additional back offices, or launch special-purpose subsidiaries in Sapporo, Japan.

Definitions for employee differentiation:

Contracted employees

• All employees with an employee contract working for more than 1 month, both long-term and short-term. Includes full-time employees, temporary employees (dispatched by another company), part-time employees, and short-term project contract employees.

Permanent full-time employees

• Employees that work full-time hours (40 hours/week), and who are directly employed/recruited by the startup or scaleup.

Employees without permanent contract

• Employees who are temporary employees, part-time employees, and short-term project contract employees.

The Overview of the Subsidy Groups:

1. Startups & scaleups relocating their headquarters to Sapporo

• Maximum subsidy amount of 210 million JPY
• Must relocate headquarters or a part of the main functions of headquarters to Sapporo City.
• Must have at least 20 permanent full-time employees (new hires and transfers)
• Must make a public announcement of the relocation

Subsidy details include:

• Personnel costs
  – 500,000 JPY per person for permanent full-time employee
  – 100,000 JPY per person for other contracted employees.
• Establishment costs
  – 1/2 of the construction cost, office equipment purchase costs, and recruitment costs

2. Startups & scaleups that are newly establishing back offices, internal administrative offices, etc. for the first time in Sapporo city

• Maximum subsidy amount of 30 million JPY.
• Must be the startup or scaleup’s first establishment of an office in Sapporo city.
• Must have at least 20 permanent full-time employees and other contracted employees combined (new hires and transfers)

Subsidy details include:

• Personnel costs
  – 500,000 JPY per person for permanent full-time employees.
  – 100,000 JPY per person for other contracted employees.

3. Startups & scaleups that are looking to expand additional office space or business offices in Sapporo City.

• Maximum subsidy amount of 10 million JPY.
• Must have an increase of floor space or establish an additional business location/office in the city.
• Must have also increased the number of permanent full-time employees and contracted employees to at least 20 people over a two-year period.

Subsidy details include:

• 250,000 JPY per person for every additional permanent full-time employee

Eligibility Requirements and Details:

Call Centers: Inbound call centers that handle incoming calls to the offices.

Back Offices: Business offices that provide centralized internal administrative and business support services for the startup and scaleup.

Special Subsidiary: Headquarters, startup and scaleup branch offices, and other business offices of special purpose subsidiaries that have been certified as prescribed in the Act to Facilitate the Employment of Persons with Disabilities (Paragraph 1 of Article 44)

※1 Contracted employees:
Those who are engaged exclusively in the subject work of the subsidy and meet all of the following requirements.

• The employment period must not be fixed (even if the contract is for a fixed term)
• Those who have been long-time employees by renewing contracts are eligible — but not if the contract has a clause that stipulates an upper limit on contract renewals or other provisions that could stop employment.
• Must be covered by employment insurance, health insurance, and pension insurance provided by the employer.

※2 Transferred permanent full-time employees:
Transferred regular employees are those who transfer from outside Hokkaido to the Sapporo area, which includes

• Sapporo
• Otaru
• Iwamizawa
• Ebetsu
• Chitose
• Eniwa
• Kitahiroshima
• Ishikari
• Naganuma

They also must be registered as a resident.

※3 Person with disabilities:
Must have a valid Physical Disability Certificate, Rehabilitation Certificate, or Mental disability Health and Welfare Certificate.

※4 Increase in number of permanent full-time employees:
Can be attributed to new hires, internal appointments, or transfers with relocation from outside the city.

※5 Relocation of Headquarters:
Upon relocation, the business office concerned must be registered or referred to as the headquarters.

Other Requirements:

• The startup or scaleup must be engaged in services mainly towards companies or customers outside of Hokkaido.
• The startup or scaleup, including the company that holds more than half of the outstanding shares, must have been in operation for at least 1 year.
• The startup or scaleup must continue to operate in Sapporo for a period of 6 years, starting from the first year in which the subsidy is granted.

Application Procedure and Notes:

• The startup or scaleup must consult with the city of Sapporo before publicly announcing plans to open a business location or relocate headquarters.
• The applicant must apply for the subsidy before signing a lease contract, acquiring the facility, or starting construction.

For more information or questions, please contact us 👉 CONTACT FORM

Reference : http://www2.city.sapporo.jp/invest/subsidy/call-back.php