A new, independent evaluation names Basware as a Leader, recognizing its Invoice Lifecycle Management approach to governed AI, continuous compliance, and enterprise control 

CHARLOTTE, N.C., June 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Basware, the global leader in Invoice Lifecycle Management (ILM), has been recognized as a Leader in The Forrester Wave™: Accounts Payable Invoice Automation Software, Q2 2026. Finance and AP leaders can read the full report here.  

In its evaluation, Forrester wrote that, “Basware’s distinctive vision redefines APIA (Accounts Payable Invoice Automation) through invoice lifecycle management, unifying inbound and outbound invoicing into a single compliant zero‑touch orchestration model. Its innovation and roadmap embed continuous compliance and governed agentic AI into a financial control plane, moving AP from automation to proactive, real‑time enterprise control.” 

“For years, accounts payable automation focused on one thing: processing invoices faster,” said Jason Kurtz, Chief Executive Officer, Basware. “The world finance operates in has changed. Enterprises now manage dozens of e-invoicing mandates, increasingly sophisticated invoice fraud, sprawling multi-ERP estates, and growing pressure to put AI to work. Those forces compound, and a faster version of a broken process does not solve them. Basware’s answer is Invoice Lifecycle Management.” 

Invoice Lifecycle Management is a single platform that governs every invoice from receipt through payment, across every entity and country. It unifies four capabilities: Governed Autonomy, Continuous Compliance, Financial Integrity, and Enterprise Control. Together they let finance teams adopt AI at the pace they choose while keeping every decision logged, compliant, and auditable. 

“For us, being recognized as a Leader in the Forrester Wave validates the direction we’re taking our customers around the future of finance,” said Donna Wilczek, Chief Product and Technology Officer, Basware. “Most vendors stop at automation. That’s just the beginning. Real value comes from governing the entire invoice lifecycle – touchless, compliant, and protected. That’s what Basware Invoice Lifecycle Management delivers, and what we’re building toward every day.”  

The evaluation assessed vendors across current offering, strategy, and customer feedback. Basware received the highest score possible, 5.0, in all six criteria within the strategy category, including vision, innovation, and roadmap. It also received the highest score possible in ten current offering criteria, including e-invoicing compliance, fraud and risk management, exception handling, and process monitoring. 

Alongside current offering and strategy, the evaluation assessed customer feedback. Forrester wrote that “Customers choose Basware for its simple yet granular event and status tracking. They also praised the vendor’s strong reporting and dashboarding features.” 

Read the evaluation

Disclaimer 

Forrester does not endorse any company, product, brand, or service included in its research publications and does not advise any person to select the products or services of any company or brand based on the ratings included in such publications. Information is based on the best available resources. Opinions reflect judgment at the time and are subject to change. This report is part of a broader collection of Forrester resources, including interactive models, frameworks, tools, data, and access to analyst guidance. For more information, read about Forrester’s objectivity here. 

About Basware 
Basware is how the world’s best finance teams gain complete control of every invoice, every time. Our Intelligent Invoice Lifecycle Management Platform ensures end-to-end efficiency, compliance, and control for all invoice transactions. Powered by the world’s most sophisticated invoice-centric AI, trained on over 2.5 billion invoices, Basware’s Intelligent Automation drives real ROI by transforming finance operations. We serve 6,500+ customers globally and are trusted by industry leaders including DHL, Heineken, and Sony. Fueled by more than 40 years of specialized expertise with $10+ trillion in total spend handled, we are pioneering the next era of finance. With Basware, now it all just happens. 

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Students from Across the Country Earn National Honors

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., June 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — On Wednesday, June 10, Junior Achievement (JA) announced award winners at the 2026 Future BoundTM by Junior Achievement Awards Gala.  Future Bound by Junior Achievement, held at Boston University in Boston, MA, showcased the talents and achievements of young entrepreneurs and innovators nationwide. The event featured four dynamic competitions, each highlighting the ingenuity and creativity of over 300 students.  

Future Bound includes four unique competition tracks: JA Company of the Year, JA Social Innovation Challenge, JA Stock Market Challenge, and JA Titan Challenge.  

JA Company of the Year Competition Showcases student teams presenting and pitching their student-run businesses, where they are evaluated on various aspects of business performance and innovation.

JA Social Innovation Challenge This is a competition where students are challenged to identify a social problem and develop a creative solution as a business enterprise, which they then present to a panel for review.

JA Stock Market Challenge This is a competition where students engage in a fast-paced challenge of investing and trading fake funds in the real market, creating draft portfolios as teams, and finalizing their stock selections to test their investing skills.

JA Titan Challenge Showcases students who take on the role of business CEOs, making strategic decisions in areas like production, marketing, and R&D to compete for the title of JA Titan of Business.

The students competing at Future Bound underwent rigorous evaluation encompassing their business performance and individual team members’ personal and professional growth. The competition’s key components included producing a self-produced annual report and commercial, captivating live virtual presentation to a distinguished panel of business leaders, and insightful interviews with esteemed judges.

The Future Bound Awards Gala, held on Wednesday, June 10, served as the platform for presenting the coveted awards, including:

JA Company of the Year: Awarded to the student businesses that most effectively demonstrated their companies’ achievements, as well as the personal development of each team member.
First Place – EVO (Elkins Very Own) – JA of Southeast Texas, Inc.Second Place – Joe Flynn Photography – JA North, Inc.Third Place – Talk of the Town – JA of Southeast Texas, Inc.

JA Social Innovation Challenge: Awarded to the student projects that reflect diverse solutions that address real-world challenges.First Place – ColorFresh – JA of New YorkSecond Place –Forget-Me-Not – JA of the Space CoastThird Place – All Kids Swim – JA of San Diego County

JA Stock Market Challenge: Awarded to the student team that achieves the highest return on their investment.First Place – Eagles of Wallstreet – JA of Greater MiamiSecond Place – Men in Black – JA of OKI PartnersThird Place – Roaring Kitty – JA of Angelina County/JA of Dallas

JA Titan Challenge: Awarded to the student team that best demonstrates capability in financial decisions, marketing, research and development, and corporate social responsibility to earn the title of JA Titan of Business.First Place – Kaboom – JA of WashingtonSecond Place – Caribou1 – JA of MaineThird Place – PVHS2 – Team – JA of the Heartland

Chick-fil-A Community Impact Award: Awarded to the JA Social Innovation team that has created a standout solution focused on impacting a local community need.ColorFresh – JA of New York

Citizens Future-Ready Workforce Award: Awarded to the JA Company Program team that demonstrates forward-thinking leadership by expanding access to skills and opportunities, helping build the diverse, future-ready talent pipeline.Sparkbyte – JA North Central Ohio

CNA Operational Stewardship Award: Awarded to the Titan Challenge team that prioritized employee well‑being, managed production responsibly, and maintained operational excellence.EastLiver Pool 2 – JA of East Ohio

Delta Air Lines Social Impact Award: Awarded to the JA Company Program team that created a solution to address a local, national, or global social concern.Heavy Hugs – JA North Central Ohio

FedEx Global Possibilities Award: Awarded to the JA Company Program team that best exhibits the principles of global connectivity.Sparkbyte – JA North Central Ohio

Jim Sweeny Entrepreneurship Award presented by the Junior Achievement Staff Alumni Network: Awarded to a JA Company Program individual in recognition of their accomplishments, the role they played in their JA Company and their Entrepreneurial potential.Lana Nguyen, Team – JA of Southeast Texas, Inc.

Johnson & Johnson STEM Innovation Award: Awarded to the JA Social Innovation team that used innovative science, technology, engineering, and math applications to create a positive community impact.NextUse –  JA of Southeast Texas

Pacific Life Foundation Responsible Innovation Award: An award for the JA Titan Challenge team that best demonstrated excellence in responsible innovation.PVHS1 – JA of the Heartland

RSM Enduring Excellence Award: Awarded to the JA Stock Market Challenge team that achieves outstanding results through holding onto their investments without selling frequently or making emotional decisions based on short-term market fluctuations.Huskies of Wall Street – JA of the Desert Southwest

RSM Resilience Award: Awarded to the JA Stock Market Challenge team that experiences the greatest recovery from an early setback in the challenge, showcasing resilience and smart adjustments to their strategy.Sophrosyne Advisors – JA of the Space Coast

Staples Sustainable Investing Award: Awarded to the JA Stock Market Challenge team that made the highest gains through their investments in environmentally sustainable businesses/stocks.A.5 – JA of Greater Fairfield County

We are deeply grateful for our visionary and presenting sponsors’ commitment to empowering young entrepreneurs and fostering a culture of innovation. Thank you, Pacific Life Foundation, Chick-fil-A, CNA, Delta Air Lines, and Staples.  We also want to acknowledge these additional supporters who helped make the event memorable for the students: Citizens, FedEx, Johnson & Johnson, RSM US Foundation, Achievement Foundation, Farmers Insurance®, Intercontinental Exchange, Rita & Herbert Z. Gold Charitable Trust, State Farm Insurance, Junior Achievement Staff Alumni Network, and Z Zurich Foundation.

About Junior Achievement USA® (JA)
Junior Achievement is education for what’s next. As a strategic partner working in collaboration with educators, employers, investors, leaders, and the communities they serve, we are dedicated to helping students achieve academically today and economically tomorrow. As a leader in experiential learning operating on a national scale with over a century of experience, we are driving toward lasting change. This means ensuring a generation of students has the transferable skills and competencies needed to navigate a rapidly changing world. By delivering career-connected learning, we are invested in accelerating economic mobility through education. By helping students become confident, capable, and connected today, we can ensure they have access to opportunity-filled futures tomorrow. Junior Achievement reaches more than 4.8 million students annually across nearly 100 U.S. markets, and is part of JA Worldwide, which serves over 19.9 million students in more than 100 countries. Learn more at www.ja.org. 

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SOURCE Junior Achievement USA

Acquisition Strengthens Affle 3i Consumer Platform Tech Stack and Reinforces Commitment to Accelerated Growth with an Ongoing Commercial Partnership with DT.

SAN FRANCISCO, June 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Affle, a global technology company that delivers premium consumer conversions for advertisers with its verticalized AI-powered Consumer Platform, announced that Affle MEA FZ LLC has entered into a definitive asset purchase agreement with DT (NASDAQ: APPS), formerly Digital Turbine, to acquire select strategic AdColony assets including the AdColony SDK for Android and iOS devices, tech platform, existing integration with in-app publishers and mediation platforms, the brand name, domain and the goodwill exclusively related to the assets. 

The acquisition aligns with Affle’s 10X growth strategy to augment its Consumer Platform technology stack with broader SDK reach, spanning a wide and diverse range of mobile publisher connections globally. Affle’s deep verticalization strategy and expanded IP portfolio ensure enhanced human-vs-non-human data distillation to drive premium consumer conversions through its differentiated CPCU (Cost Per Converted User) business model.

“We are excited to announce this strategic acquisition of assets as part of our 10X growth plan,” said Anuj Khanna Sohum, Chairperson, MD & CEO of Affle. “The integration of AdColony is a significant step towards driving global scale for Affle’s advertisers with premium conversions powered by deeper audience intelligence across all our industry verticals. With our integrated stack, we will unlock greater ROI for our advertisers and publishers alike, and thus drive long-term value for our stakeholders.”

The transaction enables DT to further focus investment and resources on its core media and distribution platforms and differentiated data and intelligence assets.

“We made the strategic decision following our Fyber and AdColony acquisitions to consolidate around a single exchange platform, which became the foundation for what is now DTX,” said Bill Stone, CEO of DT. “That decision allowed us to simplify our technology stack, focus our investment, and build a stronger long-term platform. Affle is a natural partner for these AdColony assets, and this transaction creates an opportunity to deepen our commercial relationship, leveraging our respective supply, demand and technology strengths to deliver greater value for advertisers, publishers and partners.”

“This acquisition reinforces Affle’s commitment to continuously scaling globally and delivering personalized recommendations across the connected consumer journeys,” said Sameer Sondhi, CEO of North America and Chief Strategic Investments Officer at Affle. “AdColony brings a long-standing and trusted reputation with publishers globally that complements Affle’s broader strategy. The acquisition further strengthens Affle’s ability to drive deeper engagement with both existing and new advertisers worldwide. Enhanced reach, combined with richer audience intelligence for premium consumer conversions, will enable truly differentiated impact.”

Through this acquisition and its ongoing commercial partnership with DT, Affle aims to deliver enhanced value for advertisers, publishers and stakeholders globally.

About Affle Inc.

Affle Inc. is a global technology company enabling verticalized AI-led consumer conversions for advertisers globally, powered by the differentiated CPCU business model across Mobile, CTV and other agentic/autonomous intelligent connected devices (AICDs). Affle 3i Consumer Platform enables advertisers to optimize targeting, personalize user engagement and maximize ROI by combining proprietary data, deep audience intelligence and advanced agentic AI capabilities. With innovative technology integrations, Affle maximizes user engagement at every stage of the consumer journey across connected devices with algorithms that go beyond automation and efficiency to deliver next-gen experiences through deep human-vs-non-human data distillation.

Affle Inc. is a step down US subsidiary of Affle 3i Limited, which is listed on the NSE (AFFLE) and BSE (542752).

For more information, visit – www.affle.com | contact – pr@affle.com

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