Douyu TV -- a unicorn company in Wuhan East Lake High-tech Development Zone (Optics Valley) -- started trading under the symbol “DOYU” on the Nasdaq stock exchange in the United States on July 17.

Unicorn companies are new groups whose value tops $1 billion.

Its debut on the second-largest stock exchange in the world, made it Hubei province’s first internet company listed overseas.

Backed by Chinese social media and gaming giant Tencent Holdings, Douyu sold its American depository shares at $11.5 each, generating a total of $775 million in share purchases – the share pricing valuing the group at a total of 25.6 billion yuan ($3.73 billion).

Company officials said the pricing in its US initial public offering was at the bottom of an indicative range.

Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, Bank Of America Merrill Lynch and CMB International are its underwriting banks on the IPO.

The Douyu TV debut marked the largest Chinese IPO in the US so far in 2019.

Douyu TV is the largest live streaming platform in China and is a pioneer in the esports value chain. Esports -- also known as e-sports – are a type of competition using video games.  

Douyu operates its platform on both PC and mobile apps, through which users can enjoy immersive and interactive games and entertainment live streaming.

The company reported a net profit of 35.3 million yuan for the first three months of 2019, a turnaround of 185.2 million yuan from last year’s losses of 149.9 million yuan.

Douyu’s platform has brought together a deep pool of top streamers and provided a sustainable streamer development system to further ensure a consistent supply of quality content. Out of the top 100 streamers in China, 51 have signed exclusive streaming contracts with Douyu. 

The diverse product offerings and continuously enriched content have attracted a large number of highly loyal and engaged users, company officials said. The number of monthly active users reached 159.2 million in the first quarter of 2019, a year-on-year increase of 25.7 percent. 

Established in the Optics Valley in 2014, Douyu boasts advanced technology infrastructure and capabilities. The move made by the company aims to further enhance user experience and transform its user base into a more vibrant and interactive game and entertainment community. 

The rapid growth of the live-streaming business has seen China’s tech heavyweights -- Tencent, Alibaba Group Holding and Baidu -- open their wallets to back a slew of firms in the hope of boosting e-commerce, social networking and gaming services in China. 

To date, Optics Valley has been home to  43 listed companies, among which 10 are listed overseas. 

In the US, the Nasdaq tech stock market is a leading global provider of trading, clearing, exchange technology, listing, information and public company services. As the creator of the world's first electronic stock market, its technology powers more than 100 marketplaces in 50 countries. It is home to about 4,000 listings with a market value of around $14 trillion.

 Shaojie Chen (right), CEO and founder of Douyu TV, rings the opening bell at the Nasdaq on July 17. [Photo/WeChat account of Optics Valley]

 Douyu TV is the largest live streaming platform in China and a pioneer in the esports, or electronic sports, value chain. [Photo/WeChat account of Optics Valley]

 Experts say the live-streaming business is dynamic and exciting and undergoing rapid growth in China. [Photo/WeChat account of Optics Valley]