Technology companies Toast Inc. and Freshworks Inc. had strong public-markets debuts on Wednesday, midway through a busy week for initial public offerings.

Shares of Toast closed Wednesday up roughly 56%, valuing the company at $35.94 billion. Freshworks’s shares closed up 32%, valuing it at $15.3 billion.

Toast and Freshworks are among more...

Technology companies Toast Inc. and Freshworks Inc. had strong public-markets debuts on Wednesday, midway through a busy week for initial public offerings.

Shares of Toast closed Wednesday up roughly 56%, valuing the company at $35.94 billion. Freshworks’s shares closed up 32%, valuing it at $15.3 billion.

Toast and Freshworks are among more than a dozen companies that were expected to raise more than $5 billion through IPOs this week, according to Renaissance Capital.

Also making its market debut Wednesday was a.k.a. Brands Holding Corp., which fell 9% to $9.99. a.k.a. Brands is a California-based fashion company that focuses on younger shoppers.

Toast and Freshworks offer technology that helps companies meet their customers’ needs. Boston-based Toast provides software for the restaurant industry, including payment systems, while California-based Freshworks has technology that assists companies with their customer service.

Toast, initially hit as the pandemic forced restaurants to shut down, has benefited from a shift in dining behavior, including more online orders and contactless payments.

“Through new Toast product offerings like contactless Order & Pay for indoor dining, curbside notifications for takeout, and flat-fee delivery via Toast Delivery Services, we’ve supported our customers through this transition,” the company said.

Toast’s IPO priced at $40 a share, above the expected range. The stock closed at $62.51.

Similarly, Freshworks, which also saw a significant impact particularly from customers hit hard by the pandemic like those in travel and hospitality, pointed to companies’ need to digitally transform their marketing, sales and service models.

Beyond its initial focus on customer experience, Freshworks offers other services, including information-technology service management as well as sales and marketing.

Freshworks seeks to help companies, which “often have disparate silos and disjointed information for a single customer,” founder and Chief Executive Girish Mathrubootham wrote in a letter that was included in the company’s IPO documents.

Freshworks’s IPO priced at $36 a share, also above the projected range, and the stock closed at $47.55.

The two companies aren’t yet profitable but have seen strong growth.

Toast’s gross payment volume, or GPV, more than doubled in the six-month period through June 30, while revenue rose to $704 million from $344 million for the comparable six-month period a year earlier.

Freshworks reported revenue of $168.9 million for the six-month period ended June 30, up from $110.5 million a year earlier.

Write to Maria Armental at maria.armental@wsj.com