Edtech unicorn BYJU'S brings home another $500 million in a fresh funding round. As per reports, the round was led by Silver Lake alongside participation from the company’s existing investors including Tiger Global, General Atlantic, and Owl Ventures. With the latest round, the company has now raised around $1 billion this year. Previously, it had raised funds from Tiger Global, tech billionaire Yuri Milner’s DST Global, and Bond. The leading investor of the latest funding round, Silver Lake is a global technology investment firm, having more

than $60 billion assets under management. The company has a portfolio that collectively generates more than $180 billion of revenue annually.

In an issued statement, Byju Raveendran, Founder & CEO, BYJU'S, said, “We are fortunate to be in a sector of positive relevance during this crisis. This has brought online learning to the forefront and is helping parents, teachers and students experience and understand its value. Our classrooms are changing possibly for the first time in 100 years and I’m really excited about the opportunities that we have to redefine the future of learning," Byju Raveendran, chief executive of Byju's said in a statement.

“We are delighted to lead this investment and partner with Byju and his impressive team of education technology pioneers in their mission to help children in India and around the world achieve their true potential,” added Greg Mondre, Co-CEO of Silver Lake.

The lockdown had sky-rocketed the demand for edtech platforms, while BYJU'S made the most of it. According to a report by Omidyar Network India, the edtech market in India is valued at $735-million, and is expected to grow 120 percent in calendar 2020 and exit the year at $1.7 billion. With over 64 million registered students, 4.2 million annual paid subscriptions, and around 20 million students learning from its platform for free, the company has aligned its growth trajectory to perfectly match this trend, doubling its revenue from Rs.1,430 crore to Rs.28,00 crore in FY 19-20.