With its latest $650 million fundraise, Eruditus, a Mumbai-based edtech startup that offers professional education courses in collaboration with leading universities, has entered the coveted unicorn club with a valuation of $3.2 billion.

The $650 million Series E funding round for Eruditus was led by Accel and SoftBank Vision Fund 2, with participation from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Sequoia India, Bertelsmann, Prosus, and Leeds Illuminate.

Eruditus' entry into the unicorn club – firms valued at $1 billion or more – makes it the second edtech startup to join this year, following upGrad, which was valued at $1.2 billion following its fundraise on August 9.

This year has seen the emergence of 23 new unicorns from the Indian startup ecosystem.

Eruditus plans to use this funding to create new courses, products, and industry verticals, as well as expand into newer verticals such as governments and enterprises. It will also be used to expand the market and fund acquisitions.

“Eruditus’ mission is to make high-quality education accessible and affordable to learners across the world,” said Ashwin Damera, Co-founder and CEO, Eruditus. “With this fundraise, we’re excited to scale our unique business model, continue to deliver strong learning outcomes, and grow our global impact at a rapid rate.”

According to Eruditus, it has grown by more than 100 percent in the last year and is on track to reach more than $500 million in bookings this year.

“The unbundling of higher education and continued learning has only just started. We believe that the platform and deep partnerships with the world’s best universities put Eruditus and its partner universities at the forefront of this revolution in higher education. Their products are helping bring the best quality education to students around the world at affordable prices,” said Anand Daniel, Partner at Accel.

Eruditus, founded in 2010, has over 250 professional learning programmes developed in collaboration with universities, reaching out to 2.5 lakh people in 80+ countries.

“With the rapid rate of technological disruption, continuous upskilling is necessary in today’s job market,” said Sumer Juneja, Partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers, adding, “The company’s partnerships with elite universities, and use of technology and data to create and deliver high quality courses positions Eruditus to lead in this space.”

Eruditus employs over 1,400 people and has offices in Mumbai, Delhi, Shanghai, Singapore, Palo Alto, Mexico City, Boston, New York, London, and Dubai.