Edtech decacorn BYJU’S has reportedly raised $500 million in a fresh funding round from private equity (PE) players BlackRock and T. Rowe Price. According to a person familiar with the matter, the fund raising has elevated the online education startup’s valuation to $12 billion, around $1 billion more since the earlier round in September where it raised $500 billion from a group of investors comprising PE firm Silver Lake Partners, Tiger Global, General Atlantic, and Owl Ventures at a valuation of $10.8 billion. BlackRock, Sands Capital and Alkeon Capital joined as new investors, as part of the same round later, with valuation climbing to $11.1 billion.

In the latest round, BlackRock, as existing investor, participated along with T.Rowe Price, which has joined as a new investor, the Business Standard reported adding that with this investment BYJU’S has raised more than $2.3 billion from investors in 18 funding rounds so far.

As of date, the app had more than 70 million registered students as well as 4.5 million annual paid subscriptions

The Bengaluru-based edtech firm, founded by Byju Raveendran, has seen a substantial rise in its valuation due to the ongoing pandemic as education has, to a large extent, moved online with schools and colleges being closed to further stem the coronavirus spread.

Since the lockdown, BYJU’S has witnessed a stellar growth adding over 25 million new students to its platform. As of date, the app had more than 70 million registered students as well as 4.5 million annual paid subscriptions. Besides, the renewed investor interest also propelled the company into India’s second-most valuable startup, also earning it decacorn status. A decacorn is a firm valued at over $10 billion.

With the latest funding round, BYJU’S has further narrowed its valuation gap with digital payments platform Paytm, which presently enjoys a valuation of $16 billion, as per the Hurun India Unicorn Index 2020. The online edtech startup has also almost doubled its revenue from Rs. 1,430 crore to Rs. 2,800 crore in FY20 and is advancing towards the $1 billion revenue milestone.