Despite a recently closed funding round injecting $1.2bn (£765m) in the taxi-booking apps coffers, and placing its value at around $40bn, Uber is reportedly in talks to sell off over $1bn in convertible debt.

The debt, which will convert into equity, will have a discount of between 20 to 30 per cent on the IPO price, with the discount increasing after a year if Uber has still not gone public.

Having closed its latest funding round, Uber now has more flexibility about the time of its initial public offering, and the sale of the debt will only increase its options.

The funding round, announced by chief executive Travis Kalanick, will enable the company to increase its growth in 2015, with the company hoping to generate over 1m jobs in cities across the globe, and make substantial investments in the Asia Pacific region.

In the blog post confirming the funding round, Kalanick also acknowledged some of the controversy the company has attracted over its business practices, writing that “this kind of growth has also come with significant growing pains. The events of the recent weeks have shown us that we also need to invest in internal growth and change.

“Acknowledging mistakes and learning from them are the first steps. We are collaborating across the company and seeking counsel from those who have gone through similar challenges to allow us to refine and change where needed.”