Asia Tech Wire (July 11) -- Shares of Shift Up (462870:KS), South Korea's fourth-largest game developer backed by Chinese tech firm Tencent, rose about 18% on its first day of trading in Seoul on Thursday.

By issuing 7.25 million new shares, Shift Up raised a total of 435 billion won ($320 million) in the IPO.

At the IPO price of 60,000 won, Shift Up's shares ended Thursday afternoon trading at 71,000 won, up 18.33%.

And in terms of the amount of money raised, it's the second-largest IPO in South Korea 2024 so far.

The company will use the proceeds to develop new games and content and invest in research on new technologies such as artificial intelligence.

Shift Up was founded in December 2013 by Kim Hyung-tae, who will remain the company's largest shareholder after the IPO with a 39.1% stake.

Aceville, Tencent's Singaporean investment arm, holds a 35% stake in Shift Up.

The company is known for its mobile and computer games, including Goddess of Victory: Nikke and the console game Stellar Blade.