Mumbai/New York, June 14 :     Rediff.com blazed a scorching trail when it debuted on the Nasdaq today. The company's ADRs opened at a price of $ 12 each, a stirring success considering that it represented the higher-end of the $10-$12 range estimated by lead underwriter Goldman Sachs. The company sold 4.6 million ADRs -representing 2.3 million equity shares- and scooped up $ 55.2 million, giving other internet start-ups in India enough confidence to unspool similar offerings in future. Around 9:30 pm (IST) the ADR was trading at $ 19, up 58 per cent from its listing price. The company had said in its filings before the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that 53 per cent of its equity will be held by foreign investors after the offering. However, if foreign holding is capped at 49 per cent, it will limit additional equity investments. Though the Centre recently allowed 100 per cent foreign holding in e-commerce, the immediate impact of the move on the company is not clear. The success of Rediff, launched four years ago as a portal which provides news and chats on topics ranging from cricket to finance, indicated that US investors are keen to put their money and trust in the hi-technology names from India. Analysts had remarked in their pre-listing comments that Rediff's decision to test the choppy US equity markets in spite of a slump in investor sentiment towards technology stocks was an indication that Internet companies are increasingly prepared to accept relatively lower valuations. 'Internet firms will have to cope with the market reality as technology investors increasingly become more and more choosy,' said R. Ravimohan, managing director at Credit Rating Information Services of India Ltd. Though Rediff has set the balling for other firms waiting to tap overseas markets to raise money, analysts feel there will be a time-lag of at least six months before any Indian portal launches a foreign portal. The company has been able to benefit in a several ways from the Net's rapid growth. Most notably, it has registered astronomical results in the number of page views on its 17 channels, or sections of its web site. The issue has passed the muster with US investors despite worries that its business model is unproven in India and the company can't even assure that it will achieve or sustain profitability.