Line Corp., the Japanese unit of Naver Corp, the South Korea based technology company announced a robust public offering of their NewsPicks platform as shares increased by 50% in an initial public offering on Tuesday in Japan. The company said within minutes of the offering, trading almost doubled the share price. NewsPicks has more than 600,000 premium subscribers at $15 per month who receive business news, corporate analysis and market insights.

The rapid growth of NewsPicks highlights the high demand for business and market news provided in a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model in Japan. It also reflects Japan’s shift to digital business, as well as the appeal of simplified and in-depth analysis of business news for the general public and for those in business circles.

The strong initial public offering of NewsPicks is similar to recent initial public offerings of tech companies, like Slack, in the US. Such offerings typically see initial jumps in share price due to investor interest in tech-based companies and platforms.