Transport service Uber could become the most valuable venture-backed startup in history.

The ride-hailing company plans to raise as much as $2 billion in a new funding round that could value the company at $50 billion or more, according to published reports.

If so, Uber Technologies Inc. would become the most valuable venture-backed startup in history, topping Chinese electronics maker Xiaomi, which was last valued at $45 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported.

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It would also be worth more than some corporate household names such as FedEx.

Uber has been on a valuation tear.

In December 2014 Uber closed a $1.2 billion round of funding that valued it at about $40 billion. That funding followed another impressive round in June 2014 when Uber said it raised $1.2 billion at a valuation of $17 billion.

Uber has told some investors it expects revenue to grow 400 per cent to $2 billion this year, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Uber has matched an aggressive expansion into some 250 markets around the globe with a ferocious fundraising machine, securing more than $5 billion in debt and equity from investors in the five years since launching.

The company has spent big on marketing the service to riders and prospective drivers.

A spokesperson for Uber declined to comment on the reports.