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Frank Vella, CEO of Constant Contact, named Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2026 New England finalist by EY US

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EY US celebrates ambitious entrepreneurs shaping the future of business

BOSTON, April 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Frank Vella, CEO of Constant Contact, has been named a finalist for the Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2026 New England Award by Ernst & Young LLP (EY US). Now in its 41st year, the Entrepreneur Of The Year program celebrates the bold leaders who disrupt markets through the world’s most ground-breaking companies, revolutionizing industries and uplifting communities. The program honors entrepreneurs whose innovations drive economic growth and help shape the future of business.

An independent panel of judges selected Vella among 24 finalists based on their entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, company growth and lasting impact in building long-term value.

“New England was built on the grit and grind of small business owners, and that’s who we show up for every day at Constant Contact,” said Frank Vella, CEO of Constant Contact. “I’ve built a career enabling entrepreneurs with the tools to compete, grow, and thrive on their own terms. None of that happens without customers who trust us, a team that believes in the mission, and the New England community that continues to inspire it. This recognition means the world because it’s validation that this work matters.”

Founded in 1995 in Waltham, Massachusetts, Constant Contact is the AI-powered marketing partner for small businesses and nonprofits. For more than 30 years, the company has helped entrepreneurs and nonprofit leaders stay connected with their customers, build lasting relationships, and grow.

Vella’s leadership at the company has been fueled by a disciplined, multi-stage capital strategy designed to transform a legacy brand into an independent SaaS powerhouse.

Entrepreneur Of The Year honors business leaders for their ingenuity, courage and entrepreneurial spirit. The program celebrates original founders who bootstrapped their business from inception or who raised outside capital to grow their company, transformational CEOs who infused innovation into an existing organization to catapult its trajectory, and multigenerational family business leaders who reimagined a legacy business model to strengthen it for the future.

This year’s New England finalists represent Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont across all industries, including technology, consumer products, manufacturing, finance, life sciences and more.

Regional award winners will be announced on June 16 during a special celebration in Boston, Massachusetts, and will become lifetime members of an esteemed community of Entrepreneur Of The Year alumni from around the world. The winners will then be considered by the national judges for the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Awards, which will be presented in November at the annual Strategic Growth Forum®, where high-growth CEOs, Fortune 1000 executives and investors converge to shape the future of business.

Sponsors
Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards include presenting sponsors PNC Bank, Cresa, LLC, Marsh USA, SAP, and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. In New England, sponsors also include regional Platinum sponsor, DLA Piper, regional Gold sponsor, ADP, and regional Silver sponsor, Stagedge.

About Entrepreneur Of The Year®
Founded in 1986, Entrepreneur Of The Year® has celebrated more than 11,000 ambitious visionaries who are leading successful, dynamic businesses in the US, and it has since expanded to nearly 80 countries and territories globally.

The US program consists of 17 regional programs whose panels of independent judges select the regional award winners every June. Those winners compete for national recognition at the Strategic Growth Forum® in November where national finalists and award winners are announced. The national overall winner represents the US at the World Entrepreneur Of The Year® competition. Visit ey.com/us/eoy.

About EY
EY is building a better working world by creating new value for clients, people, society and the planet, while building trust in capital markets.

Enabled by data, AI and advanced technology, EY teams help clients shape the future with confidence and develop answers for the most pressing issues of today and tomorrow.

EY teams work across a full spectrum of services in assurance, consulting, tax, strategy and transactions. Fueled by sector insights, a globally connected, multi-disciplinary network and diverse ecosystem partners, EY teams can provide services in more than 150 countries and territories.

All in to shape the future with confidence.

EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. Information about how EY collects and uses personal data and a description of the rights individuals have under data protection legislation are available via ey.com/privacy. EY member firms do not practice law where prohibited by local laws. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com.

About Constant Contact
Constant Contact is the AI-powered marketing partner for small businesses and nonprofits. For more than 30 years, the company has helped entrepreneurs and nonprofit leaders run smarter marketing — today combining AI-driven content creation, intelligent audience targeting, and plain-English insights in one unified platform across email, social, SMS, and events. By doing the heavy lifting for entrepreneurs, Constant Contact gives every business owner the capability of a full marketing team — without needing one. Learn more at constantcontact.com.

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SOURCE Constant Contact, Inc.

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SMiT unveils UWB-enabled CI+ 2.0 dongle and Presence-Aware TV platform at IBC2026

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Joint solution combines SMiT secure TV-access hardware, TrueSense UWB technology, The Hashgraph Group’s BrandBoost product and Sofia Digital’s TV application expertise.

AMSTERDAM, Sept. 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — SMiT, a global provider of secure TV-access hardware and solutions, will unveil its Presence-Aware TV platform anchored by a CI+ 2.0 USB dongle integrating Ultra-Wideband (UWB) technology at IBC2026, which will be held from September 11 for September 14. The solution is designed for Free-TV and Pay-TV operators and broadcasters seeking privacy-conscious audience awareness, richer viewer engagement and measurable advertising opportunities on the main screen.

The platform brings together SMiT’s secure and deployable TV-access hardware, the TrueSense UWB integration layer for precise identity association and precise relative positioning, The Hashgraph Group’s BrandBoost TV Awareness product, and Sofia Digital’s TV application and user-interface capabilities.

As viewing and advertising budgets increasingly move toward digital platforms, Pay-TV operators need a reliable and consent-based way to understand engagement at the shared television screen. SMiT’s proposition turns the television from a reach-only device into an interactive and measurable surface while keeping the operator at the center of the customer relationship.

How it works

The UWB-enabled CI+ 2.0 dongle connects directly to a compatible iDTV without requiring a separate set-top box. Using TrueSense UWB technology, the system can securely associate an opted-in registered viewer’s smartphone or tag with the television and determine the device’s proximity and relative position with high precision. This enables the TV, the operator application and cloud services to coordinate personalized and interactive experiences.

SMiT pairs its hardware with BrandBoost, The Hashgraph Group’s TV Awareness product. BrandBoost combines privacy-conscious viewer awareness, gamification, targeted engagement and reward workflows. Developed around the UWB layer, allowing the platform to link an authorized digital identity to the viewer’s precise proximity and position relative to the television.

Sofia Digital provides the TV application, operator user experience and integration capabilities required to bring these services to screen.

Demonstrated use cases include:

Live sports ‘Guess & Glory’: prediction and polling experiences with rewards for correct answers.Ad Trivia: interactive overlays during commercial breaks, with credits, vouchers or other operator-defined rewards.Presence-aware personalization: content, menus and offers adapted to an opted-in registered viewer.Location-based authentication: an additional proximity signal supporting account security and password-sharing controls.

Where required by the operator, engagement and reward events can be recorded using Hedera DLT, supporting transparent campaign measurement and tokenized reward models. The combined platform is designed to help operators progress from broad audience estimates toward permission-based, outcome-oriented engagement and advertising metrics.

Live at IBC2026

Visitors to SMiT Stand 2.C36 will be able to experience a live demonstration in which an enabled smartphone approaching the television is associated with the TV session through UWB. The demonstration will show the combined hardware, viewer onboarding, TV interaction, gamification and operator cloud-management experience.

The architecture is extensible to personalized operator interfaces, live sports interaction, targeted advertising, loyalty programs and other presence-aware services. SMiT positions the dongle as a practical add-on for existing Pay-TV operators and conditional-access providers, supporting new services without requiring a complete replacement of the installed TV platform.

More information: www.smit.com.cn/engr/

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/smit-unveils-uwb-enabled-ci-2-0-dongle-and-presence-aware-tv-platform-at-ibc2026–302874587.html

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Reinvented & Upgraded: Kuailu AI CRM into the 2.0 Era

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HONG KONG, Sept. 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Industry research reveals that 68% of sales data remains untracked outside of CRM systems, with sales representatives spending an average of 2 hours daily on manual data entry and report preparation. The limitations of traditional CRM workflows have become increasingly glaring.

As Generative AI steps into autonomous execution, AI Agents are completely rewriting software architecture. As a pioneer in smart workplace solutions, Kuailu Smart Office introduces the newly upgraded Kuailu AI CRM—built natively on an AI-first architecture.

By deeply embedding AI across the complete end-to-end business lifecycle—from lead acquisition and nurturing, opportunity follow-ups, and deal closing, to revenue collection and post-deal reviews—Kuailu AI CRM proactively derives insights, evaluates risks, and executes tasks. It elevates the CRM from a mere add-on utility into an enterprise-wide intelligent operating hub, restoring CRM to its ultimate core purpose: driving closed deals and revenue growth!

Not Just a Software Tool, But a Strategic Growth Partner

Most legacy CRMs rely on plugged-in AI overlays that only deliver isolated optimizations—such as basic chat interfaces or knowledge base search—failing to fundamentally address core enterprise growth goals. In contrast, an AI-Native CRM leverages holistic, end-to-end pipeline data combined with LLM-powered analytical reasoning, fundamentally shifting CRM management from “process-driven” to “insight-driven.”

As an AI-native platform, Kuailu AI CRM constructs an enterprise-wide intelligent data computing hub powered by a proprietary three-tier architecture:

AI Data CenterAI Intelligence HubAI Core Business Engine

Looking through a holistic operational lens, the platform delivers real-time sales dynamics, proactively evaluates business risks, and automatically formulates tactical strategies—achieving a complete closed loop of Intelligent Insight — Intelligent Decision-Making — Intelligent Execution — Intelligent Review.

For Decision-Makers: Comprehensive Business Control at a Glance

Data is an enterprise’s most critical moat. However, data in conventional CRMs is often fragmented and poorly correlated, failing to record true operational reality—let alone guide executive decision-making. For leadership, this creates a scenario of “data overload with zero actionable clarity.”

Kuailu AI CRM solves this with a Management Command Cockpit equipped with an AI Diagnostic Engine, Real-Time Revenue Board, and Multi-Dimensional Operational Dashboards. Core metrics—including revenue performance, client distribution, deal conversion rates, activity levels, and customer churn pre-warnings—are visible at a single glance. By combining full-process visual monitoring, proactive risk alerts, and intelligent revenue forecasting, executives can officially say goodbye to blind management and reactive post-mortems.

For Sales Reps: AI Models Delivering Direction and Actionable Plans

Traditional sales planning relies heavily on reps’ subjective “gut feelings” and personal judgment tracked in manual Excel sheets—a process that is time-consuming, labor-intensive, prone to inaccuracy, and incapable of offering clear execution guidance.

Kuailu AI CRM leverages authentic enterprise master data, buyer intent stages, historical engagement logs, and win probabilities. Powered by advanced AI models, it automatically generates a personalized, high-priority daily follow-up task list.

These plans align perfectly with live business scenarios, dynamically adapting to each rep’s workflow rhythm and the client’s current status. By clearly outlining daily target accounts, key actions, and milestone goals, the system completely eliminates blind follow-ups and unproductive busywork—allowing sales teams to focus 100% of their energy on high-value, deal-closing activities.

An Out-of-the-Box AI Toolkit Unlocking End-to-End Productivity

Beyond solidifying the four foundational CRM modules—Leads, Accounts, Opportunities, and Orders—Kuailu AI CRM seamlessly embeds intelligence across every operational node. It introduces 9 out-of-the-box AI Smart Tools covering acquisition, engagement, quoting, team collaboration, and pipeline management.

Case Study 1: AI Generated Quotes

Value: Deliver precise quotes in 1 minute with real-time profit visibility, preventing loss-making deals.Step 1: Upload custom quotation templates. Input applicable discounts, and the AI automatically calculates final totals, eliminating human calculation errors with template-level precision.Step 2: Deeply connected with CRM opportunity data, the system auto-populates required details from the deal pipeline with a single click—no manual typing required—generating standardized, professional quotation documents.Step 3: Export quotes directly for download or printing, unifying client-facing formats and establishing a standardized, high-efficiency quoting workflow.

Case Study 2: AI Customer Insights

Value: Generate 360-degree client intelligence reports in 10 seconds, doubling ice-breaking efficiency and turning junior reps into domain experts overnight.Step 1: Simply enter an account name to scrape comprehensive web intelligence and generate pre-visit briefing decks.Step 2: Automatically consolidate public corporate records, AI-analyzed target buyer demographics, product lines, sales channels, commercial models, and competitive landscapes.Step 3: Synthesize current industry pain points and generate 3 tailored ice-breaking conversation topics to maximize discovery call impact.

Powered by AI, Winning Digital Value Together

Evolving from a passive data repository into a self-deciding, self-executing AI Growth Engine, Kuailu AI CRM transforms software from a tedious operational burden into an indispensable business growth partner. By redefining the value of commercial platforms, Kuailu Smart Office converts raw, flowing data into actionable revenue opportunities—driving sustainable enterprise growth in the AI era.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/reinvented–upgraded-kuailu-ai-crm-into-the-2-0-era-302874592.html

SOURCE Kuailu Technology

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Aulumu Introduces the A18 Series for iPhone 18: Lightweight Protection Meets Next-Gen Design

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SHENZHEN, China, Sept. 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Aulumu introduces the new A18 Series, a collection of smartphone cases that brings together advanced materials, everyday protection, and distinctive design. At the heart of the lineup is the A18 Armor Shockproof Aramid Fiber Case, Aulumu’s latest take on lightweight protection.

Built with 1500D aramid fiber and TPU in a one-piece construction, the A18 Armor combines the refined texture and lightweight feel of aramid fiber with TPU’s flexibility and cushioning properties. Unlike conventional ultra-thin aramid cases, it is engineered to provide enhanced everyday drop protection while maintaining a slim profile.

Its full-wrap structure protects the phone’s edges, while reinforced corners help distribute impact from drops and bumps. The case is designed for up to 2m drop protection, with a 1.36mm raised edge around the screen and a 1.3mm raised camera frame providing additional protection for key areas.

The A18 Series also expands into a more expressive approach to aramid fiber. The A18 Ultra-Slim Gradient Aramid Fiber Case uses 800D aramid fiber with a grayscale gradient woven directly into the material, creating depth without relying on printed patterns. At just 1.2mm thick and from 26g, it maintains a minimal presence while adding a distinctive visual character.

For a more futuristic aesthetic, the A18 Ultra-Slim Pixel Aramid Fiber Case combines 1500D plain-weave aramid fiber with a UV-treated gradient particle pattern inspired by digital structures and tactical technology. It is 1.2mm thick and starts at 27g.

The collection is further complemented by the A18 Ghost Lumen Transparent Case, featuring high-transmittance PC, an IML-laminated luminous array, and a one-piece full-cover design, as well as the A18 Particle Vegan Leather in five colors.

Beyond phone cases, Aulumu also introduces the C05 FKM Sport Watch Band, combining sweat- and water-resistant FKM rubber with a lightweight titanium alloy buckle, and adds a new color to the A39 Geometric Case for AirPods Pro 3, designed to complement the latest iPhone color palette.

With the A18 Series, Aulumu continues to explore how materials, protection, and visual identity can work together in everyday carry.

About aulumu

Founded in 2022, aulumu is a design brand focused on high-performance gear, drawing inspiration from the functional aesthetics of cyberpunk and the philosophical roots of ancient Greek thought. Since its inception, the brand has launched dozens of digital accessory products, secured multiple utility and invention patents, and received the 2025 Red Dot Design Award. Today, aulumu products serve hundreds of thousands of users across more than 20 countries and regions, positioning the brand as a growing presence in the global high-performance accessories market.

For more information, visit: https://aulumu.com/, or follow aulumu on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aulumu_official/

 

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aulumu-introduces-the-a18-series-for-iphone-18-lightweight-protection-meets-next-gen-design-302873379.html

SOURCE aulumu

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