Topline Pro grabs $5M to help home service businesses scale online

Like many “solopreneurs,” home service professionals have to balance doing the work while also managing a business. Topline Pro wants to take some of that burden off the shoulders of professionals so they can concentrate on customers. New York-based Topline Pro, formerly ProPhone, does this by leveraging generative artificial intelligence to provide a way for … Read more

6 reasons why you shouldn’t join an accelerator

Saba Karim Contributor Share on Twitter Saba Karim is director of the startup pipeline at Techstars. As the head of startup pipeline at Techstars, I’ve been getting on calls with founders, attending events, speaking on stages like TechCrunch’s Disrupt and hosting countless Twitter Spaces. Each time, I’ve been telling founders why they should join an … Read more

Contract lifecycle management vendor Icertis secures $150M in debt to stave off rivals

It’s Halloween. And, if you’re contract management software company Icertis, it’s payday. After raising $115 million in 2019, Icertis today secured $150 million — $75 million in convertible debt and a $75 million revolving credit facility — in a combined tranche that brings the company’s total capital raised to $520 million. By going the debt … Read more

Amazon to delist top seller Appario on India marketplace amid regulatory heat

Amazon plans to delist large seller Appario Retail, in which it maintains a stake, from the marketplace, the two said Monday, a year after ending ties for another large seller Cloudtail following allegations from retailers that some sellers received preferential treatment. Amazon and Patni Group-owned Zodiac said in a statement that they have agreed to … Read more

Watch SpaceX launch a Falcon Heavy for the first time in three years

Thousands are gathering on Florida’s Space Coast to watch SpaceX launch the massive Falcon Heavy rocket for the first time since 2019. SpaceX will attempt to directly inject two U.S. Space Force spacecraft to geosynchronous orbit. The payload includes TETRA-1, a microsatellite developed by Boeing subsidiary Millennium Space Systems, which the company describes as a … Read more

Bengaluru launches QR train ticketing service on WhatsApp

WhatsApp users in the city of Bengaluru can now use the instant messaging app to purchase train tickets and recharge their travel passes, the Meta-owned platform said Monday in what it described as “the first-ever QR ticketing service” for its app. WhatsApp and Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation (BMRC) said they have partnered to launch a WhatsApp … Read more