Uber valued at $18.2 billion

Uber, the controversial taxi app, has completed a round of funding that values the company at $18.2 billion.

The four-year old company has been a giant success story, growing its operation to 128 cities in 37 countries and providing transportation to millions of customers.

Uber started as a business that sends customers luxury cabs at a touch of a button. It has since expanded to lower-cost cars and delivery service with its UberX service.

The latest funding round of $1.2 billion -- soon to be $1.4 billion, after other investors chip in -- includes institutional investors, mutual funds, private equity and venture capital partners, Uber said in a blog post. That values the company at $17 billion on top of the $1.2 billion in funding.

Uber already has some high-profile backers, including Google (GOOGL, Tech30) Ventures, which invested $250 million last year. Although Uber did not name any of its new investors, there have been several reports that one of them is mutual fund giant Fidelity Investments.

Uber believes it is making positive changes in the transportation industry, claiming it is creating 20,000 new jobs per month.