Unacademy has raised $440 million in a new funding round led by Singapore's Temasek Holdings, valuing the education technology startup at $3.4 billion.

Mirae Asset from South Korea also participated in the round, and existing investors such as SoftBank Vision Fund, General Atlantic, and Tiger Global also contributed large sums, indicating strong investor interest in a sector that has benefited greatly from rising digital adoption during the pandemic.

While the transaction will primarily involve a primary infusion of funds, the Bengaluru-based startup is facilitating a secondary share sale of $20 million in order to provide exits to one of its early investors as well as a slew of angel investors, according to a company executive. Unacademy will have raised $70-80 million in secondary share sales in the last year as a result of this.

The edtech firm, which was valued at $2 billion less than a year ago, has now seen a 70% increase in the current round.

Unacademy has also brought on board Aroa Ventures, Oyo Hotels & Homes founder Ritesh Agarwal's family office, and Deepinder Goyal, cofounder and CEO of Zomato.

Unacademy cofounder Gaurav Munjal told that the six-year-old startup, which began as a YouTube channel for learning, "wants to position itself as a broader technology firm with multiple consumer-facing products, and not be restricted to edtech."

Munjal intends to use the funds to develop new lines of business in areas such as jobs and hiring, where it will compete with companies such as Naukri.com and Linkedin. It will also launch short courses taught by creators and expand existing businesses such as test preparation and K-12 coaching (from Kindergarten to Class XII).

“We want to be a technology company with multiple consumer internet products across sectors. For example, in edtech, we will go deep into two areas—K-12 and careers. Then, there are two markets in upskilling and higher education—degrees and direct jobs—that we also want to push,” he said.