Uber grows from $18.2 billion to $40 billion company in less than a year

Uber , the international taxi hiring services firm, has doubled its worth to $40 billion from $18.2 billion in June last year.

Company co-founder and chief executive Travis Kalanick said in a blog that Uber is six times larger than it was a year ago, functional in 50 countries and across 250 cities.

The company was founded in March 2009 and valued $3.4 billion in November 2011.

Uber 's experimental novel ideas ranging from delivering roses on Valentine's Day to on-demand delivery of ice-creams and barbecues are said to have played a role in the company's growth trajectory. In India, it is piloting cash payments for cabs in Hyderabad, in a first for the company globally. Until now, Uber's mobile application around the world has charged customers through credit cards or other electronic payment methods. In April, Uber followed Ola by tying up with autorickshaws in some cities as it tries to reach more customers.

"It's certainly astonishing how quickly Uber's valuation has increased over the past 12 months," said Boris Wertz, founding partner of Version One Ventures, an early stage fund for start-ups located in California in an email to CNBC.

However, not all has been rosy.

The US-based international cab services company was caught in a controversial myriad across the world in 2014-15 when China banned private firms from offering services via Apps in a bid to crack down upon unlicensed drivers. In Australia it ran into trouble when it started charging highly when people started fleeing the central business district during a hostage crisis. Uber's services were banned in New Delhi for some time following the rape of a woman executive by its driver.

However, the company overcame the negative publicity and continued on a good growth path following investments of $1.2 billion in June 2014 (that took the company's worth to $18.2 billion) and $1.2 billion in December 2014 as announced by Kalanick.

Uber is not listed on stock exchanges yet and according to a Guardian report , it may not go public for another 12 months.

Only Facebook was worth $50 billion before it went public in 2012. Chinese electronics maker Xiaomi was last valued at $45 billion.