(Yicai Global) July 22 -- The new Nasdaq-style new sci-tech innovation SSE Star Market that eases listing and financing of tech startups officially started trading on the Shanghai Stock Exchange today. 

The shares of the first batch of 25 firms to list rose steeply, suddenly creating many tech billionaires, including the married couple who are the founders of Suzhou, Jiangsu province-based HYC Technology, a seller of automated industrial testing equipment. The pair's combined personal net worth has shot up to about CNY20 billion (USD2.9 billion) to top the new board's rich list.

The firm's stock opened at CNY55.4 (USD8) today to more than double its issue price. HYC Technology's share price reached about CNY57.9 at 13.40 p.m. in a rise of almost one and a half times.

The founding pair, whose names are Chen Wenyuan and Zhang Qian, directly and indirectly held about a 93.2 percent stake in the company before the listing, and their proportional stake was still about 84 percent after the initial public offering.

The firm's market capitalization is already about CNY8.2 billion based on the IPO price of CNY24.3, far beyond that of other actual controllers in the first batch. The company's market cap was CNY20.9 billion on the first day of its listing as it became the darling of the Star Market. They duo may even secure the 88th place on Forbe's list of Chinese billionaires this year with this personal net worth.

HYC Technology supplies industrial automated test devices and whole production line system solutions, per its official website. Its main products are used to test liquid crystal displays, flexible organic light-emitting diode displays and other panel display products. US technology firm Apple, Korean conglomerates Samsung Group and LG, Japanese company Sharp and Beijing-based BOE Technology, which are renowned domestic and overseas firms, are all its main clients. 

A portion of the funds earned through this financing round will be go to research and development, production and sales of testing devices for integrated circuits, per the prospectus.

The firm's various self-developed testing equipment is mainly used in the manufacturing of high-end mobile-touch products, Chen noted in a recent interview with Chinese media, adding testing technologies for LCD and OLED touch screens it developed have freed these products' from their primary dependence on imports. 

The couple put up CNY900,000 (USD130, 810) and CNY100,000, respectively, when jointly investing to set up HYC Technology in June 2005, to take a joint 100 percent stake in it, public data show. 

The first batch of 25 companies started trading on the Star market today. The shares of all of them have soared far above their IPO prices. 

Increases ranged between 93 to 410 percent by around 1.50 p.m. These have not only bestowed huge fortunes on these firms' founders, but also greatly increased the wealth of institutions and individuals that took part in the IPOs and invested in these firms.

Editor: Ben Armour