*By Jacqueline Corba* The Chinese gaming firm Huya made its public market debut Friday, trading up as much as 41 percent from its IPO price of $12. "We are very glad," said Huya's chief financial officer, Henry Sha, in an interview with Cheddar shortly after the company began trading on the New York Stock Exchange. "The e-sports environment in the U.S. market is quite good. A lot of gamers, a lot of e-sports are enthusiastic here, so we believe that the U.S. investor, the U.S. market can understand more about our company." Huya's live-gaming platform has an average of 40 million active monthly users on mobile. In 2017, revenue was $344 million. Sha said China is the primary market for Huya, but there is great potential among gamers in the United States. Huya aims to raise $165 million in its public offering, Sha said, with the intention of using the capital to invest in e-sports and content creators. Chinese entertainment giant Tencent is the second-largest stakeholder in Huya, and will maintain its 39.5 percent ownership. "We are very excited about future collaboration with Tencent," said Sha. For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/huya-soars-in-market-debut).
