Online education is one of the few sectors that has received a major boost amid the COVID-19 pandemic as more and more people experiment with virtual learning due to lack of other options. Ed-tech startups have raised about $750 million this year alone, and on track to raise more.

Byju's is one of them leading the game. According to recent reports, DST Global, the investment firm led by Russian billionaire Yuri Milner, is in advanced talks to lead a $400 million round in online education firm Byju's at a valuation of $10.5 billion.

Byju's is currently the second highest valued startup in India after payments firm Paytm. June, it raised an undisclosed amount from US-based BOND Capital at a valuation of $10.5 billion. It is believed that the edtech startup is raising this round because there is a large acquisition target in the United States, for which they need cash.

Byju's, which started out by providing online classes for students from kindergarten to Class 12 (K12), recently ventured into live classes, test preparation and entrance exams as well. Founded by former teacher Byju Raveendran, has in recent months turned to acquisitions to grow.

In January last year, Byju's acquired Osmo, a US-based maker of educational games, for $120 million.

It has since launched discussions to acquire DoubtNut, a doubt-solving app for school students for $100 million, according to media reports. It is also in advanced talks to purchase WhiteHat Jr, a one-and-a-half-year-old upstart providing coding classes in a $300 million all-cash deal.

It has also considered raising a large round of debt to finance some of its acquisitions. It has explored raising up to $500 million in debt, and received interest from some banks and financial institutions as well, at an interest rate of 2.5 percent per annum.

DST Global, is one of the world's leading late stage technology investors, having pumped money into companies such as Facebook, Spotify, Alibaba, Twitter and Airbnb. For DST, the deal with Byju's, if it fructifies, may also mark a comeback of sorts to investing in India.

Since September 2016, DST has only invested in food delivery startup Swiggy and B2B marketplace Udaan catapulting both to the coveted unicorn status, or startups valued at over a billion dollars.