Raspberry Pi made a soaring start to life on LSE

Raspberry Pi (LSE:RPI) shares were in high demand and made a soaring start to its London stock market debut on Friday, trading up to 500p at one point.

The shares tempered somewhat by the session's close, ending its first trading day 2.7% higher at 423.12p.

It represents substantial upside to the IPO, which had priced at 280p earlier this week.

At 280p, the IPO had priced ‘at the top end’ of the range pitched by the company and its brokers.

The IPO generated £166.00 million, including £31.00 million of new capital, and valued the company at £541.00 million. The success of the float is seen as a positive sign for the London market, which has recently struggled for new listings.

"The quality of the interactions during the marketing process has underlined our belief that London has the right calibre and sophistication of investor to support growing, ambitious technology businesses such as Raspberry Pi," chief executive Eben Upton said earlier this week.

"The reaction that we have received is a reflection of the world-class team that we have assembled and the strength of the loyal community with whom we have grown."