Chinese smartphone vendor Xiaomi has announced it sold 61.12 million smartphones during 2014, which earned the company 74.3 billion yuan in revenue before tax.

On his official Facebook page, co-founder and president of Xiaomi Bin Lin said the company experienced 227 percent growth in handset shipments in 2014 and 135 percent growth in revenue.

"This puts us at the top spot for smartphone manufacturer in China," he said.

Image: Supplied

The company also recently completed a round of funding, raising US$1.1 billion at an valuation of US$45 billion, which Lin claims makes Xiaomi the "world's most valuable tech start-up". Investors that chipped in included All-Stars Investment, DST, GIC, Hopu Fund, and Yunfeng Capital.

The bulk of the funding is expected to go towards developing video content for Xiaomi TV. In November, the company said it was investing up to US$1 billion to expand its internet TV offerings.

This is the fifth fund-raising exercise by the Chinese company that is well-known for its popular low-price devices. However, the raised funds fall short of the reported US$1.5 billion that the company had initially intended to raise when it announced in November it was kicking off a new round of funding.

During 2014, the company was forced by the Delhi High Court, to stop selling its smartphone in India until February 5 when a patent dispute with Ericsson is expected to be heard. The Swedish telecommunications firm has alleged that intellectual property was being unfairly used by Xiaomi without a licensing deal. Lin said that during 2014 the company sold over one million smartphones in less than five months in India.

The phone maker is also being investigated by the privacy authority of the Hong Kong Administrative Region government for allegedly sending user information without consent back to servers in mainland China.

Despite these ongoing challenges, Lin said the company is "determined to face the competition" as other major players in the smartphone industry conduct "microscopic level study of our business model". He said the company will focusing on its products and services, grow its ecosystem, and enter new markets.

Lin added that the company will shortly unveil its next-generation flagship device, while it continues to invest into home appliance maker, Midea; maker of mi power bank, ZiMi; and maker of brand Mi Band, HuaMi.