SAN FRANCISCO — Daily deals pioneer Groupon raised about $700 million with an initial public offering of stock priced well above expectations.

The IPO was set late Thursday at $20 per share, above the anticipated range of $16 to $18. The higher price indicated investors are eager to snap up the Chicago-based company’s shares.

Groupon is expected to make its trading debut today on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the ticker symbol “GRPN.” That will give a better indication of general sentiment for the company’s stock, since it will be the first time that a broader audience will be able to buy it.

The IPO’s price gives based Groupon a market value of $12.7 billion. That makes Groupon’s IPO the second largest by an Internet company behind only that of Google in 2004.

The online search leader made its public debut at a market cap of $23.1 billion seven years ago. In comparison, LinkedIn went public in May with a market value of $4.3 billion and was worth $8.4 billion at the end of trading Thursday.

The pricing is a milestone in a process that served as a reality check for Groupon, a rapidly growing company that has evoked memories of the dot-com boom’s exuberance. Coming at a time of worldwide market turbulence and deep economic woes, Groupon’s IPO has been closely watched by fellow Web startups.

It’s a lofty appraisal for a service that started just three years ago, but a big comedown from the $25 billion estimate floated when the company filed its IPO plans in June, months after rejecting a $6 billion buyout offer from Google.