This September, Shazam announced users had deployed their app’s name-that-tune/media discovery function more than 10 billion times to peg down different songs, television shows and advertisements. Each month, ten million more people jump on the platform to listen and engage with all kinds of media; and according to Rich Riley, the best is yet to come. After 14 years at Yahoo, the 40-year-old head honcho at Shazam has embarked on a positive journey and, between meetings with his clients, answered Red Herring’s questions.

Red Herring: What is the situation at the company?

Rich Riley: We are in a phase of accelerated growth. It took us ten years to get to the first billion transactions. Then 10 months for the second billion. [And two months to go from the ninth to the tenth billion.] And we can anticipate that it will go faster in the near future.

RH: How are you expanding the company’s mission?

RR: Shazam’s core value and roots remain in mobile. Consumers decide to engage in music and they expect Shazam to provide a magical experience. Recently we have added dimensions that make it richer by providing historical perspectives, graphs and other elements which make it unique, and a leadership position for our company.

RR: Where we are extending the franchise? TV has become the next frontier and we are making TV “Shazamable.” [As U.S. programming already integrates Shazam,] over time, we anticipate that every show, every program [outside the U.S.] will integrate Shazam and we are currently holding talks with major networks to convert this new step into a reality. We are also working with advertisers to transform their 30 second experience into a deeper engagement. We are continuously adding to our capabilities by so doing.

RH: What drives this explosive growth?

RR: At its core, Shazam is a technology company. Our engineers create new releases of our apps and update them every month, at a faster rate than ever. This allows us to reach customers better with the latest version.

Also we have [a] new set of opportunities: we are in constant conversations to facilitate the mobile strategy of our partners, in programming or in advertising. [We are now working with] a larger variety of applications or verticals, making their ads clickable since we can produce anything on a HTML canvas [and that makes it easier].

 And we are spending our time evangelizing our [capabilities, so] the next frontier is expanding all the time.

RH: What is your mandate as a CEO?

RR: Since I joined, I have to [achieve] the optimal balance and make sure we have the right people [to lead] the 200 Shazam employees in the right direction. My second task is to spend time with all our stakeholders, media companies, networks, advertisers, with whom we have partnerships. Those are high level partnerships. We work closely with Apple, Amazon, Audio, Spotify among others. For example, Shazam sells [$300M each year, which translates into 500,000 songs per day on all platforms,] so you can imagine what it means in terms of relationship for all parties involved. But it goes beyond, since we deal with record labels, events, etc.

RH: Any gap between your perception prior to joining and what you eventually learned during the first 100 days?

RR: Sometimes CEOs are disappointed but in this case I did perform my due diligence beforehand and I spent a lot of time with Andrew Fisher who was CEO for over eight years and [is] now Chairman. I spoke to longtime board members like Nenad Marovac and investor Kevin Murphy from Kleiner Perkins to get their perspective. I realized three positive things: that I could develop an invaluable partnership with Andy; that customers loved Shazam’s experience much more even than what I thought; and that the opportunity is larger than we planned.

RH: If everything is rosy, why change the CEO?

RR: The company may have needed someone to grow rapidly from the current stage and someone who had operated in a more complex environment on a larger scale. Also the U.S. is a real focus on our current development.

For me, this represents a fantastic opportunity after 14 years at Yahoo! to work with 200 people, well beyond the five-people startups in a garage, yet to move at a fast pace. It is quite rare to have such a market impact with a strong team in different functions in a company of Shazam’s size.

RH: So what is the roadmap?

RR: We have one of the top ten apps in the world. Shazam is the fundamental way to connect media and content [with people via their smart devices. And it has the potential to be integrated with an innumerable set of verticals such as the retail environment and radio.] It is increasingly relevant to billions of people and we [plan] to execute towards their sharing a magical experience. And the IPO is a fundamental milestone to focus on.

RH: Compared to Google and Facebook, is Shazam too green for an IPO at this stage? Is the business model predictable enough?

RR: Public market investors aspire to growth and momentum. They want to see consumer engagement and progress (more people and more use of Shazam). They want to see technology and category leadership. Since I came on board, we have met with well known bankers and experts and I think the key word is predictability and not really an absolute revenue level. At least that’s what I have understood from these briefings.

Consequently, our job is to put the team, the controls, the accounting and more importantly to continue getting more customers. We put the company in an IPO readiness state first and decide later when it is right. By the way, IPOs are highly dependent upon the overall environment which we do not control so the best we can do is to solidify the prerequisites. Maybe a year or two from now, we will find ourselves in a position to decide on an IPO. Our investors have been patient and backed us up and it has taken a long time.

We are well-financed after Carlos Slim and other firms invested [more than $80 million] in Shazam at a far higher valuation than Series A players such as DN Capital and Nenad Marovac. We have a solid balance sheet so we should focus on our knitting, to develop Shazam around the world.

The round was led by T. Rowe Price, Tiger Global Management and other public market investors, with participation by its previous venture capital investors Greylock Partners, Index Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, Samsung Ventures and Sutter Hill Ventures. The round brings the company’s total financing to $245 million, and follows its Series B of $40 million last year.

“In our view, Pure represents a rare combination of disruptive innovation, strong leadership, and strong growth. In particular, customer references were excellent,” said Henry Ellenbogen of T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. “We look forward to working with Pure as they scale and strive toward becoming a public company.”

Pure Storage produces Flash Array, a solid state storage solution that lowers the price of flash storage to about $5 per gigabyte. The company essentially makes solid state storage at a price comparable to traditional storage, but at 10x its speed, space and power efficiency.

The money will be used to bolster R&D efforts as well as expand internationally. It also helps prepare the company for an IPO, the company indicated in a press release. Over the last 10 months, the company has extended into 10 new countries, including  the U.K., Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Denmark, Poland, Germany, Japan, Korea, Australia, and Singapore.

Along with the funding, the company also announced adding former Data Domain CEO Frank Slootman to its board.

“Pure Storage is experiencing much of what we did at Data Domain,” said Slootman. “They’re replacing one storage media (disk) with another (flash). They pioneered the use of inline data reduction to remove the cost hurdle for the media upgrade, and, as a result of being the first to get this right they are growing about as fast as companies can grow organically. I am glad to be able to offer my own perspective in driving and managing growth to the top tier board of directors and leadership team at Pure.”

Pure Storage competes against legacy storage solutions EMC Corp and NetApp, which offers flash storage solutions at a much higher rate of $20 to $50 per gigabyte. It also competes against startups such as Nimble Storage and Skyera. Earlier this month, Skyera released its latest generation (link to “Skyera’s Latest Gen Boosts Data Capacity by 10X for ½ the Price” shared on Google Docs but not published) that offers flash for $1.99 per gigabyte, or 49 cents after data deduplication techniques are applied.

Molex provides Apple with products like multimedia connectors, or as they’re more commonly known: “Firewires.”

Molex creates electronic parts like connectors, fiber-optic products, antennas and sockets for a variety of verticals including data and computing, telcos and automotive. The company reported gross profitability at more than $1.06 billion in 2013, down half a percentage point from 2012. With the deal struck, Molex joins the Koch Industries portfolio, which already includes Georgia-Pacific LLC, The Matador Cattle Company, and more resource-based ventures bearing the Koch name like Koch Minerals, LLC and Koch Pipeline Company, LP.

Koch Industries and Molex share similar origin stories, as Koch Industries is led by brothers David and Charles Koch and Molex, until recently, was owned and operated by the Krehbiel family.

Per the deal, Koch now owns all Molex’s outstanding common, Class A, and Class B stock––and laid down a pretty penny more for the shares than they traded for the previous Friday. (Stocks of the common, A and B variety are distinguished by associated voting rights.) According to the release, Koch dropped capital at a 42 percent equity increase (up 31 percent for common stock, 56 percent for Class A common stock). Obviously, premiums make deals more appealing to investors (get a brush-up here.)

It is widely accepted that most companies are merged with a premium over their stock value, around 20%. Molex, with 42 percent, seems in line with recent acquisitions which according to pundits and financial sources are higher in 2013 than usual.

Molex reports net revenues at 3.6 billion worldwide in 2013, 3.8 percent more than last year. The company, based in Lisle, IL, chose this moment for acquisition to reward longtime supporters and employees. “After 75 years this was a difficult decision, but our board of directors and our family believe that this transaction…provides outstanding benefits for all our stakeholders,” said Fred Krehbiel, co-chairman of the Molex board in the release. “The transaction is expected to provide substantial opportunities for our worldwide employees, many of whom have spent much of their working lives at Molex and are responsible for the company’s long term success.” Following the deal, the Krehbiels will give up their stock and positions and leave the company to Koch.

The news makes no mention of future product releases or jumps into new sectors––only of a continued “track record of growth and investment in people, innovation and technology,” says Martin Slark, CEO and vice chairman of Molex in the release.

Documents Molex filed with the SEC say the company’s sales to Apple account for 14 percent of net revenue in 2013, though they’re not Apple’s only connector provider. Risks to the business, also listed in the papers, provide clues to reasons for an acquisition now. According to the company, Molex faces intense competition, industry consolidation, a dependency on new products and pressure to lower prices.

Though its hard to imagine an electronic parts producer struggling in a digital age, the industry brings its own challenges. And a partnership with Koch could give Molex room to work, so that they won’t have to innovate under the gun (and on the cheap) in a capital-intensive and crowded industry. “Connector Supplier” ranks Molex third on the top 10 list of connector manufacturers, as it pulled more than $3.5 billion in sales two years running (2011-2012). In past months, the industry’s looked a little bleak; but hopefuls wait for a 4.4 percent overall connector sales increase before end of full year 2013.

As the Krehbiels bow out, the Kochs are poised to take Molex to new heights. Though Molex has already scaled international (they have 41 manufacturing locations in 15 countries; and just, 29 percent of its 2013 net revenues stem from the Americas), Koch Industries’ money, resources and guidance will help further penetrate their markets. Currently, Molex has captured about 8 percent of the connector industry: a number they’re looking to increase.

“Once the transaction is completed, Molex will be even better positioned to navigate an evolving industry,” the company said in an employee FAQ about the deal. “With Koch behind us, we will be able to protect and grow our market share, ensure continuity for customers, provide growth opportunities for our employees, and maintain the overall stability of the business.”

Implications of the deal may affect Apple on the political, rather than technological, front. Already, news sources have penned headlines that poke at Koch Industries’ leadership’s politics; yesterday, the Daily Beast ran an article titled, “Get Ready to Support the Kochs, Liberal Apple Fans.”

As to business, it’s going on as usual for now, Molex says. Until the year’s out and the deal’s closed, “we need all employees to remain focused on their day-to-day responsibilities,” the employee FAQ states.

With the Google investment, the company also gains access to Google’s technology, Uber explained in a blog post confirming the deal following earlier media reports.

“On one end we have Google, a technology powerhouse, with billions of users on an incredibly complementary product suite ranging from Google Maps to Android to self-driving vehicles,” wrote Travis Kalanick, Uber’s founder and CEO. “We look to Google and Google Ventures for the strategic connectivity to their product initiatives alongside the expertise that comes with evangelizing new technology with governments and regulatory bodies around the world.”

What’s more, that may be only the iceberg tip of Uber’s cash infusion. AllThingsD unearthed a Certificate of Incorporation that indicated the company was closing on $361.2 million in a round that involved the sale of millions of stock shares and values the company at $3.5 billion.

Uber sold 1,913,782 shares of C-1 stock, estimated to each be worth about $142, for a total of $272,790,486.It also sold 775,092 shares of C-2 stock at about $114 per share for a total of $88,385,291. Benchmark, a previous investor in the company who also bought bought 105,234 shares of the C-1 stock, further invested another $15 million in this round. TPG bought 775,092 shares of Series C-2, according to filings.

As part of the investment, David Drummond , Google senior vice president of corporate development and chief legal officer, and David Bonderman, founding partner of TPG, will be joining Uber’s board.

TPG was a strategic investor, being “one of the most prolific private equity firms in the world,” Kalanick explained in the blog.

“TPG owns and operates companies,” Kalanick writes. “The Uber deal is obviously very different, but their deep rolodex of operations executives and their regulatory know-how in highly regulated, ‘atoms’-based industries in the farthest corners of the globe is where TPG shines. David Bonderman’s vision and relationships will be invaluable to Uber as we become a global brand.”

Investment in the round proved competitive, with Google sealing the investment through a private meeting between CEO Larry Page and Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, sources told AllThingsD.

Google’s impressive check means that $258 million of Google’s $300 million annual fund has already been cashed, so don’t expect the search engine to sign onto another deal like this anytime soon.

The deal gives Uber valuable fuel to maintain its position in an increasingly competitive market. Lyft, a company competitive to Uber whose drivers offer on demand rides, recently raised $60 million. Hailo, a 2012 Red Herring Europe winner, has raised a total of $50 million. Uber’s cash infusion should put it in another league. Uber’s last round in 2011 raised $37.5 million with a valuation of $330 million.

Uber is reportedly on track to earn $125 million in revenue this year.

Both sites share a lot in common, mainly by offering searchable listings that can be narrowed down through a variety of filters, such as neighborhood, school district, access to public transportation, and price.

Founded in 2006, StreetEasy is a small company at 34 employees. Though it launched with an original focus on New York City, its biggest market, it has since expanded into a number of other areas such as Washington D.C. and Philadelphia.

“Simply put, StreetEasy has cracked the code in New York,” said Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff . “They now have a local network effect where nearly every New York broker is active on StreetEasy because of the site’s large audience and comprehensive data.”

Though a press release on the deal did not detail how the acquisition will be structured, it appears the company will continue StreetEasy in its present form, which makes sense considering the website’s sizable presence already established on the real estate market.

“At StreetEasy, we pride ourselves on bringing much-needed transparency to the New York City real estate marketplace, and being the primary reference site for consumers and real estate professionals,” said Michael Smith, co-founder and CEO of StreetEasy. “We’re very excited to be joining forces with Zillow, the largest national brand in mobile and online real estate, as we continue our commitment to data integrity, innovation and collaboration with the local real estate community.”

The deal provides the real estate giant with a solid foothold in a valuable market, but came with an expensive price tag for an audience of just over a million monthly unique visitors. Yet it further solidifies Zillow’s hold on the real estate market as the real estate giant faces rising competition as the US market rebounds. Its competitor Trulia, an online residential real estate listing site covering markets across the country, applied last March for its own $150 million follow-on offering to be used for growth and acquisitions.

The deal will likely be the first of several, as Zillow announced plans to file for a similar follow-on of public stock just as the deal with StreetEasy was announced. The company will seek to sell 2.5 million shares of Class A common stock, equivalent to around $228 million based on Friday’s closing share price of $91.22.

Just a few weeks ago, Zillow reported record second quarter revenue of $46.9 million, a 69 percent increase over the same quarter last year. It also reported a loss of $10.2 million, mostly due to marketing and acquisition expenses.

The SpaceX and Tesla entrepreneur took pains to make his paper understandable to outsiders, using accessible imagery and terminology, not to mention jokes. “Short of figuring out real teleportation, which would of course be awesome (someone please do this), the only option for super fast travel is to build a tube over or under the ground that contains a special environment,” he writes in his Hyperloop Alpha papers.

He explains using both pneumatic and vacuum tubes for infrastructure fails practicality tests. Air movement in pneumatic tubes on the scale Musk imagines would generate too much friction; and sustaining an airless vacuum just wouldn’t be pragmatic.

“However, a low pressure (vs. almost no pressure) system set to a level where standard commercial pumps could easily overcome an air leak and the transport pods could handle variable air density would be inherently robust,” he writes.

But air in the system brings its own trouble. “Whenever you have a capsule or pod…moving at high speed through a tube containing air, there is a minimum tube to pod area ratio below which you will choke the flow,” Musk writes. “What this means is that if the walls of the tube and the capsule are too close together, the capsule will behave like a syringe and eventually be forced to push the entire column of air in the system. Not good.”

Here come the physics: “Nature’s top speed law for a given tube to pod area ratio is known as the Kantrowitz limit. This is highly problematic, as it forces you to either go slowly or have a super huge diameter tube,” Musk writes. “Interestingly, there are usually two solutions to the Kantrowitz limit – one where you go slowly and one where you go really, really fast.”

While Musk acknowledges it’s tempting to pick the super-fast solution, he says it just won’t work for what the Hyperloop’s trying to do. And going thousands of miles an hour sounds exciting until you realize “even wide turns” bring “painful g loads.”

“The approach that I believe would overcome the Kantrowitz limit is to mount an electric compressor fan on the nose of the pod that actively transfers high pressure air from the front to the rear of the vessel,” he says. “This is like having a pump in the head of the syringe actively relieving pressure.”

Remember Musk’s first tantalizing description of the Hyperloop as part air hockey table? The compressor pump would help pods glide through a tunnel system a little like plastic pucks do..

“[The pump] would also simultaneously solve another problem, which is how to create a low friction suspension system when traveling at over 700 mph. Wheels don’t work very well at that sort of speed, but a cushion of air does,” he writes. “Air bearings, which use the same basic principle as an air hockey table, have been demonstrated to work at speeds of Mach 1.1 with very low friction. In this case, however, it is the pod that is producing the air cushion, rather than the tube, as it is important to make the tube as low cost and simple as possible.”

Musk then answers his own question about battery life and the viability of fueling a fan for a 700-mile trip. Following his description of the air bearings, he writes: “That then begs the next question of whether a battery can store enough energy to power a fan for the length of the journey with room to spare. Based on our calculations, this is no problem, so long as the energy used to accelerate the pod is not drawn from the battery pack.”

To top off the design, a battery-powered electric motor brings the system up to speed.

“This is where the external linear electric motor comes in, which is simply a round induction motor (like the one in the Tesla Model S) rolled flat,” he writes. “This would accelerate the pod to high subsonic velocity and provide a periodic reboost roughly every 70 miles.”

Faster than a speeding bullet train, the Hyperloop promises transit that is cheaper, better, faster, and safer, “compared to alternatives.” But for now, the system’s future design is as open as its open-source plans.

“Hyperloop is considered an open source transportation concept,” Musk writes. “The authors encourage all members of the community to contribute to the Hyperloop design process. Iteration of the design by various individuals and groups can help bring Hyperloop from an idea to a reality.”

“Digital businesses are powered by APIs and Apigee’s platform helps companies turn their digital assets into an engine for ongoing innovation and growth,” said Jin Lee, senior managing director, Accenture Mobility.  ”We are teaming with a market leader like Apigee because the application economy is creating unprecedented new opportunities in mobility and cloud, and our clients in every industry are aggressively deploying digital strategies to fuel their revenue growth and expand market share.”

The company will use the financing to expand globally as well continue to evolve its platform. The round brings the company’s total funding to $106 million.

Founded in 2005 originally as Sonoa Systems, Apigee specializes in a platform that simplifies APIs, the foundations for software applications. It takes its name from the name of its API management platform. Apigee’s software make it easier for companies to build their own apps, as well as provide the tools to measure the effectiveness and use of those apps. The products allow any company to link applications and relevant data to gain better control over the development and marketing of their apps.

“Mobile changes everything, and every business must have a comprehensive digital strategy that includes reaching customers and expanding through mobile apps,” said Chet Kapoor, Apigee CEO. “Apigee helps companies of all sizes deliver and manage the core elements of a connected mobile world: apps, data and APIs. We are in a market sweet spot, and this additional funding will help us quickly expand our product portfolio and international sales and marketing.”

Based in Palo Alto, Apigee features three product offerings: Apigee Enterprise, an API management platform; Apigee Insights, which provides data analytics; and Apigee API Exchange, an app ecosystem provider.

The company serves over 400 customers, including AT&T, Dell, Shell, Bechtel, OnStar and Marks & Spencer. Its products are used by 20 percent of the Fortune 100 and over 10 percent of the Global 100.

“Apigee helps even the largest organizations evolve their businesses to act more like agile Web companies,” commented Promod Haque, senior managing partner of NVP. “The company has impressive momentum, and we are confident that Apigee will continue its trajectory as our world becomes increasingly driven by data-rich apps as part of the ‘Internet of things.’”

For folks in the Western Hemisphere who might not know, Redmart’s a Singaporean e-commerce portal where users shop for everyday goods of the nonperishable variety. They’ve partnered with monster brands like Coca-Cola, Unilever and L’Oreal to put 5,000 products on digital shelves; that number will grow to 7,000 soon. While not profitable yet, they draw 4,000 active monthly users and bring home around $500,000 SGD a month.

Redmart’s Series A funding last week saw a substantial (and undisclosed) investment by Garena founder and CEO Forrest Li. The round, now closed, brought total funding behind Redmart to $4.6 million USD.

For Singaporean companies, later funding rounds prove crucial to viability. Through grants and incubator programs, Singapore’s government goes out of its way to incentivize entrepreneurship. If a company’s idea is sound, getting seed money’s easy––but finding backers for later rounds is not. With the venture capital scene less developed and firms more risk-averse, fledgling companies turn instead to angel and individual investors for support.

“You get to Series A where you need a couple  million dollars and that’s where it becomes difficult. I’d say roughly speaking they, the VCs in the immediate area aren’t as experienced,” says Roger Egan, CEO and founder of Redmart. “What we ended up doing is going to an entrepreneur because a lot of the VCs here lack operational experience with founding their own companies.”

Big names jump out from Redmart’s list of backers, including Skype co-founder Toivo Annus (who has invested three times) and Southeast Asian gaming giant Forrest Li. “[Annus] introduced us to Forrest Li [of Garena], which is the largest online gaming company––one of the largest Internet companies, period, in Southeast Asia,” Egan says. “He said, ‘Forrest, you should take a look at this deal.’”

For Redmart, though, big names don’t necessarily mean big numbers. Instead, Egan preaches financial restraint, which extends to his philosophy on fundraising. “We’re careful to raise only the capital we need in each round. While that may be a little risky––because what if the fundraising environment changes––we feel that when you have more money you spend more money,” he says. “We try to put ourselves under a little more pressure, which sounds insane. We think that helps us come up with the most efficient way of operating.”

Streamlining costs means perfecting logistics, which make or break e-commerce ventures. Redmart’s entire concept rides or dies on coordination. They offer free delivery on orders exceeding $75 SGD, and 95 percent do. To keep their market advantage and position as the convenient alternative to grocery shopping, their product deliveries much be cheap, quick, reliable, and accurate. To ensure this, Redmart must know its market, with its particular whims and obstacles, like the back of its hand––which takes a while.

“The last thing you want to do is, before you’ve developed your system and processes and your internal operations and technology, go and try to do that and build it from scratch again in another country, diverting your attention from getting it right here and possibly risking both,” says Egan.

Redmart’s business model practically demands they test and perfect it on small markets first. And while some would argue Redmart could take their platform and plant it in anywhere, there are particular reasons it’s succeeding in Singapore, making the island city the perfect place for Redmart to spend its early years. And right now, there’s no real rush to expand past its borders.

As an insulated market, Singapore’s ideal for application of what Egan calls the Blue Ocean Strategy. “We see Singapore as a blue ocean,” says Egan. “Because people think it’s small and they have bigger cities to go after, especially big guys, it actually creates an opportunity that’s pretty unique for a startup to develop.” Promoted by two INSEAD professors, the strategy sings the praises of open markets where businesses can grow undisputed by competitors.

Specifically, though, Singapore has a great reputation for being pro-business, as well as a population suited to Redmart’s goals. According to World Bank’s “Doing Business,” it’s 2013’s easiest place to do business (a title they’ve held for a few years now). “There’s a lot of reasons why this city is the perfect place to get started and test and get your service right,” says Egan. “It’s small, it’s densely populated, it has great infrastructure, it’s very business-friendly, very easy to start a company, [the] government supports startups in so many ways.”

Plus, small is a relative term. “For our market, it’s not that small,” Egan says. “We always tell people that groceries and everyday essentials, everyone’s a potential buyer. It’s a $5.2 billion market.”

“[You can build a] couple-hundred million dollar business pretty easily here, and you don’t have to face Amazon and people like Fresh Direct and Tesco. It’s much more of a wide open playing field,” he continues. “So thats why we think there’s plenty of potential here, another reason why we’re not so keen on going out too quickly.”

Soon, though, Redmart will expand. They’ll head to new cities where Egan says they’ll try to find leaders that double as locals. They’re also contemplating next frontier: fresh food delivery.

“[We believe] you’re only going to be as good as your greatest challenges,” Egan says. “Other product categories are one thing, and geographical expansion, for sure we see a lot of opportunity. It’s still kind of like the Wild West here in South Asia.”

“Proven is changing the way people apply and experience the job hunt, making it easier and more accessible by unchaining job seekers from their computers,” writes CEO and Proven co-founder Pablo Fuentes in an email.

Loosening the shackles binding people to their desktops lets users apply for jobs pretty much anytime, anywhere. That’s especially helpful when getting to a listing first could mean a leg up.

“Most people, especially millennials, are never further than about 5 feet from their phones and they can use this to their advantage,” Fuentes writes. “From a recent study we conducted, we found that people that applied for a new job listing within the first day of it being listed were 70% more likely to be noticed by recruiters and they also received more positive responses as well.”

Applying to jobs via mobile makes the process flexible, convenient and almost pleasant (it is still job hunting, after all). Résumés are reachable via email then download code, and cover letters get copy-pasted into the app. Otherwise you can just write new ones in Proven itself; there’s even a résumé template.

The whole thing takes a very few minutes and screen taps if you’re already set on content, though some listings do require applicants jump through additional hoops. The short time it takes to apply is perfect for users casting a wide net.

“In this job market, people have to apply for more jobs and this especially applies to millennials trying to land their first job,” Fuentes writes. “Proven makes it easier to not only monitor new postings, but also create a resume and apply right away so millennials can be that much closer to being first in line to be considered for an open position.”

Earlier this week, the 2009 startup received an extra push from investors by way of $1 million in seed funding. Capital behind Proven now totals $3.8 million, with Andreessen Horowitz, Kapor Capital, Founder Collective, Greylock Partners, and other angels contributing to Wednesday’s million-dollar round.

“Our goal is to continuously improve the job hunting experience and today’s funding bump takes us so much closer to achieving just that,” Fuentes writes. “The funding will help us further develop our mobile and backend technology, expand the platform and broaden our growing scope of partners.”

It’s a sign of the search giant’s push towards mobility as it struggles to transcend the shift from desktops to mobile devices. Baidu’s mobile app was used by only 9 percent of China’s mobile users as of last April, according to Bloomberg data.

Baidu is used for 82 percent of the searches in China, but competes against up and coming web players such as Alibaba and Tencent for Internet dominance. Launched last August, new competitor QiHoo quickly became the second largest search engine after Baidu, and is rumored to be considering acquiring Sogou, China’s third most popular search engine. Baidu needs to diversify its product line beyond simple search.

Baidu plans to purchase the majority stake from NetDragon Websoft, which owns about 57 percent of the company. It then hopes to purchase the remaining shares from third parties under the same terms.

The deal would give Baidu control over China’s most popular app stores as it strives for a greater mobile presence.

“Baidu is not as well established in the mobile Internet space as the desktop Internet space,” Andy Yeung, an analyst at Oppenheimer & Co Inc., told Bloomberg. “It’s a complementary strategy to enhance Baidu’s status in the mobile ecosystem.”

On an analyst call last year, Baidu CEO Robin Li h expressed plans to pursue acquisitions that increase the company’s valuation. This latest deal is in step with other recent major purchases of the company.  Two months ago, Baidu announced plans to acquire PPS Video for $370 million. Last November, the search engine purchased a majority stake in the video company iQiyi. The two deals made Baidu China’s largest video provider.

The size of the deal speaks to the value of China’s alternative app market. Its growth has been spurred considerably by Google’s absence in China, as Android has gain dominance in the country that has become the world’s second largest smartphone market.

Founded in 2007, 91 Wireless had been planned for an IPO on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Obviously, $1.9 billion makes a great reason to pull it off the auction block.