SINGAPORE • Home-grown crowdfunding company CoAssets said it smashed local records on Monday when it raised $200,000 in less than 30 minutes for a Singapore small and medium-sized enterprise (SME).

The SME is a toy manufacturer which had applied for a short-term business loan through CoAssets' crowdfunding platform to fund a themed event to promote and sell its products.

The project was listed at 4pm on Monday and hit its targeted amount of $200,000 by 4.30 pm on the same day, CoAssets said in a release issued yesterday.

With a minimum investment of $5,000 in the project, investors can expect to receive a 10 per cent yield, to be paid out within six months.

"This deal demonstrates the continuing demand in the SME sector for short-term business loans, and investors' growing appetites for crowdfunding as an alternative means to optimise and diversify their portfolios," Mr Lawrence Lim, CoAssets chief operating officer, said.

Earlier this month, a machining and metal fabrication company raised $150,000 in 45 minutes on another crowdfinancing site, MoolahSense, one of several crowdfunding firms that have launched in Singapore over the last two years.

Mr Lim said he sees more SMEs turning to crowdfunding as the economic outlook dims and banks rein in on credit.

He added that the latest deal shows that SMEs "can secure competitively priced capital through us, in a much quicker time compared to traditional means of financing".