Heartland Innovation and Transformation Programme

The Heartland Innovation and Transformation Programme (HIT) is a 12-month Enterprise Singapore programme for heartland enterprises aspiring to test consumer-facing innovation ideas, build capabilities and scale. It combines curated learning and an innovation ecosystem; universal funding, HDB tenancy and commercial success are not guaranteed (Enterprise Singapore, HIT, accessed 12 September 2026).

What HIT provides

Participating enterprises can receive mentorship from successful entrepreneurs, networking through events and fireside chats, curated training from the Heartland Enterprise Centre Singapore and selected Institutes of Higher Learning, and facilitated access to resources at Centres of Innovation and IHLs. The programme therefore combines capability development with testbed and collaboration access rather than offering only a cash subsidy (Enterprise Singapore, HIT, accessed 12 September 2026).

For the pilot site at Ang Mo Kio Town Centre, participating enterprises may access affordable modular spaces at temporary locations or direct allocation of HDB vacant shop spaces through the HDB Enhanced Entrepreneur Scheme. The latter spaces are rented at valuer-assessed market rent with a 10% rental discount on the first term of a three-year tenancy. This is a described pilot-space route, not a promise that every participant receives a shop or discount (Enterprise Singapore, HIT, accessed 12 September 2026).

Eligibility and programme boundary

The published eligibility criteria require a local enterprise with an innovative idea for a consumer-facing business; a business entity registered and incorporated in Singapore; at least 30% local shareholding; group annual turnover no greater than S$100 million or group employment no greater than 200 employees; and a physical storefront or shop operating in the heartlands. The turnover and employment limits are presented as alternatives (“or”), not as two cumulative thresholds. These criteria identify eligible applicants but do not guarantee admission, a particular mentor, training place or HDB premises (Enterprise Singapore, HIT, accessed 12 September 2026).

HIT should be distinguished from HEPG, which supports selected merchant-led placemaking activities, and from the Enhanced Visual Merchandising Programme, which focuses on store layout, fixtures and visual-merchandising capability. A heartland enterprise may need to assess those programmes separately according to the project’s purpose and the current application conditions (Enterprise Singapore, HIT; Enterprise Singapore, HEPG, accessed 29 August 2026).

Eligibility is not admission or premises allocation

HIT’s published criteria answer whether an enterprise falls within the programme’s stated applicant profile; they do not establish that Enterprise Singapore must admit the applicant, provide a particular mentor or allocate a shop. The 30% local-shareholding, S$100 million turnover-or-200-employee and physical-heartland-storefront conditions should therefore be treated as screening conditions, not as a ranking formula or automatic award (Enterprise Singapore, HIT, rechecked 12 September 2026). The Ang Mo Kio pilot-space description is a separate route involving temporary modular spaces or HDB vacant-shop allocation, with its own availability and tenancy terms. Participation in training or innovation activities does not itself create a right to either route. A useful answer should identify which outcome the enterprise is asking about—programme admission, capability support, an innovation testbed, or premises—and then check the current EnterpriseSG or HDB terms for that outcome.