(Reuters) - Affirm Holdings Inc, a U.S. provider of installment loans to online shoppers, on Tuesday sold shares in its initial public offering (IPO) at $49 apiece, above its target range, to raise $1.2 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. Affirm, founded by PayPal Holdings Inc co-founder Max Levchin, had planned to sell 24.6 million shares at a target price range of between $41 and $44 each. The company had upsized the share offering from a range of $33 to $38 per share on Monday. Affirm declined to comment. The sources requested anonymity as the information was not yet public. The IPO, the largest U.S. listing so far in 2021, signals that investor appetite for new stocks remains robust following a stellar 2020 which was the strongest IPO market in two decades. Levchin founded Affirm in 2012 to offer easily accessible financing targeted at mostly young online shoppers, who pay back in monthly installments. The company generated revenue of $174 million in three months to September 2020, up 98% from the previous year. Its net losses narrowed to $15.3 million compared with $30.7 million. As of June last year, Affirm had $1.1 billion in debt. Besides Levchin, Affirm’s major investors include Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, venture capital firms Khosla Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Funds, and Canadian e-commerce firm Shopify Inc. Shares in Affirm are due to begin trading on the Nasdaq on Wednesday under the symbol “AFRM.” Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Allen & Co are the lead underwriters for Affirm’s offering.