When Uber, the app that pairs drivers with those seeking rides, completed a round of financing earlier this month that gave it a $17 billion valuation, jaws dropped across Wall Street.
The tech startup has grown 6,000 percent since 2010 — making it the most valuable private tech startup.
And Travis Kalanick, CEO of the 4-year-old company, has no plans to slow down. Now in 128 cities and more than 40 countries, Kalanick wants to keep the pedal to the metal.
But there are some little-publicized warning signs on Uber’s horizon that could slow its meteoric growth.
These warnings signs include regulatory push-back from cities and questions about its ability to ensure its drivers are licensed and insured.
For example, California legalized ride-sharing last year, yet the state still finds itself butting heads with Uber over some basic violations — such as drivers not being licensed.
That’s right. Two UberX drivers were recently given citations by San Francisco International Airport security for driving without a license, Doug Yakel, a spokesman for SFO, told The Post.
“It’s not like a truck driver where you need a special license. We’re talking about a regular drivers license,” Yakel said. “They had nothing in the system. No license whatsoever.”
“Every driver partner must go through a rigorous multi-jursdictional criminal and driving record background check. This process includes proof that they currently have a valid license,” Uber spokeswoman Eva Behrend told The Post.
Last week, Michael Peevey, president of the California Public Utilities Commission, sent a letter to Uber and four of its competitors, saying that they risked losing their operating permits because of violations uncovered by staff at the airport, where they make money picking up and dropping off passengers.
Peevey blasted the companies for failing to carry proof of insurance, swapping cars with other drivers and failing to obtain the permits required to transport passengers to and from the airports.
Of the 300 drivers with whom SFO had contact, the majority were with UberX, Peevey said.
And Uber was the only company with drivers without drivers licenses, SFO’s Yakel told The Post.
Uber has “not received any information directly from SFO documenting these incidents,” Behrend said. “SFO, provide us with the details, and we will investigate immediately.”
“They’re playing fast and loose with the regulations and legal liabilities,” said Sam Hamadeh of PrivCo, which researches private companies. Hamadeh called Uber’s $17 billion valuation a “stretch” given the company’s “numerous legal and regulatory challenges.”
Despite its risk-taking, Uber recently attracted $1.2 billion in funding from a string of conservative investment houses, including Fidelity, Wellington and Blackrock.
Uber said the money, which gives it a valuation greater than Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Pinterest and Dropbox, will be used to help it expand to more cities and countries, “Our goal is to be everywhere,” Josh Mohrer, Uber’s New York general manager, told The Post recently.
While Uber currently boasts of operating in most of the large cities across the US and Europe, many of the cities listed on Uber’s web site don’t currently allow the company to do business there. Those include Houston, Miami, Seattle and Berlin, Germany.
“They’re not permitted to operate here,” said Samantha Alexander, spokeswoman for Austin’s Transportation Department — despite the Texas capital being listed as an Uber city.
If caught transporting people for money, Uber’s driver are fined, given two Class C misdemeanors and risk having their cars impounded, Alexander told The Post. Many of the drivers they fine seem unaware that what they are doing is illegal, she added.
Uber claims it doesn’t have to conform to the same rules because it’s not a taxi service. It’s a technology company that connects people with cars to people who want rides, and money skimming off the top — usually 20 percent.
Peevy also said in his letter that drivers questioned by airport personnel said they were unaware they needed permits to do business there.
Uber is legal in NY, but AG Schneiderman — who has called tech startups like Uber “cybercowboys,” is looking into allegations of price-gouging here by Uber.
The investigation is ongoing, a source told The Post.