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SmartEsq Wins LegalTechTalk 2026 LaunchPad Startup Pitch Competition, Recognized as a Leading AI Innovator Transforming Private Funds Law

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SmartEsq, an AI-powered legal technology platform built for private fund formation lawyers, has won the LegalTechTalk 2026 LaunchPad Startup Pitch Competition, beating out hundreds of applicants to be named the top legal technology innovator at one of the industry’s most prominent global events. The company’s platform targets some of the most time-intensive work in private funds law — LPA review, side letter analysis, and MFN management — replacing fragmented, email-driven workflows with AI-powered processes that the company says reduce manual effort by up to 80%. SmartEsq was founded by private equity attorneys and legal technologists with more than 105 years of combined experience in fund formation, artificial intelligence, and data science. The win comes as law firms and legal departments accelerate their move toward specialized AI tools capable of handling the precision and risk standards that complex legal work demands. As the 2026 LaunchPad winner, SmartEsq will return to the main stage at LegalTechTalk 2027 to present before a global audience of legal leaders, investors, and technology decision-makers.

NEW YORK, June 20, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — SmartEsq, the AI-powered legal technology platform transforming private funds formation workflows, today announced it has been named the winner of the prestigious LegalTechTalk 2026 LaunchPad Startup Pitch Competition, selected by a distinguished panel of legal, technology, and investment leaders as one of the companies shaping the future of legal services.

“Winning the LegalTechTalk LaunchPad validates what we’re building,” said Esther Chiang, CEO of SmartEsq. “Private funds lawyers face immense pressure to manage complex fund terms with absolute precision. We’re purpose-built to help them work faster and smarter without compromising trust.”

The LaunchPad Startup Pitch Competition is among LegalTechTalk’s most competitive programs, spotlighting the next generation of category-defining legal technology companies. From hundreds of global applicants, only 30 startups were selected to pitch live before an elite panel of judges. SmartEsq emerged as the winner based on its innovation, market opportunity, scalability, and compelling vision for applying AI to some of the legal industry’s most complex and high-value workflows.

“Winning the LegalTechTalk LaunchPad is a powerful validation of what we’re building,” said Esther Chiang, Co-Founder and CEO of SmartEsq. “Private funds lawyers are under tremendous pressure to manage increasingly complex fund terms, side letter obligations, and investor requirements while maintaining absolute precision. Generic AI tools weren’t built for this level of complexity. SmartEsq was. We are purpose-built to help legal professionals work faster, smarter, and with greater confidence without compromising accuracy or trust.”

The recognition reflects a broader shift in the legal industry as firms and legal departments move beyond AI experimentation toward specialized, enterprise-ready solutions built around the unique complexity, standards, and risk requirements of legal work. SmartEsq is leading this transformation by applying artificial intelligence to private fund formation—streamlining LPA review, side letter analysis, and MFN management—to reduce manual work by up to 80%, surface critical insights, and enable lawyers to focus on higher-value strategic counsel.

As the 2026 LaunchPad winner, SmartEsq will return to the main stage at LegalTechTalk 2027, providing an opportunity to showcase its continued innovation before a global audience of legal leaders, investors, and technology decision-makers.

About SmartEsq

SmartEsq is an AI-powered legal technology company purpose-built for private fund formation lawyers. Created by seasoned private equity attorneys and legal technologists with more than 105 years of combined expertise in fund formation, artificial intelligence, and data science, SmartEsq transforms the most complex and time-intensive aspects of fund formation, including LPA markups, side letter management, and MFN analysis. The platform replaces fragmented, email-driven workflows with intelligent, structured processes that improve collaboration between private equity firms and outside counsel, reduce manual effort by up to 80%, and allow lawyers to focus on strategic advice, negotiation, and client outcomes.

Media Contact

Katherine Loanzon, SmartEsq, 1 2155001219, katherine.loanzon@smartesq.ai, https://www.smartesq.ai/

View original content:https://www.prweb.com/releases/smartesq-wins-legaltechtalk-2026-launchpad-startup-pitch-competition-recognized-as-a-leading-ai-innovator-transforming-private-funds-law-302805439.html

SOURCE SmartEsq

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AXA and BytePlus sign strategic MOU Pioneering AI-Driven Transformation across insurance value chain

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Partnership focuses on co-innovating industry-specific solutions, enhancing customer intelligence, and accelerating operational innovation

HONG KONG, Sept. 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — AXA Hong Kong and Macau (“AXA”) announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) with BytePlus Pte. Ltd. (BytePlus), a leading enterprise-grade technology solutions provider. The partnership marks a major milestone in integrating BytePlus’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Large Language Models (LLM) solutions into AXA’s operations, accelerating digital transformation and responsible AI adoption across the insurance value chain.

The MOU outlines a co-innovation framework focused on three key areas:  

Insurance Innovation and Future Capabilities: AXA and BytePlus will combine their respective domain expertise to research, design, and co-innovate pioneering, insurance-specific AI models and applications, intelligent agents, and decision-intelligence solutions. The collaboration aims to explore future-oriented solutions to transform end-to-end operational workflows across the insurance value chain – spanning knowledge management, underwriting support, claims processing, and multi-channel distribution.Customer Intelligence for Personalised Engagement: AXA will leverage BytePlus’s advanced predictive data analytics, consumer persona modelling, and AI-driven decision support, to deepen customer insights to enhance end-to-end customer journey and experience.    AI-Powered Creativity and Marketing Enablement: AXA will harness BytePlus’s advanced multimodal capabilities and generative AI technology solutions to establish a dynamic “creativity hub”. This will transform content creation and optimise time-to-market efficiency, enabling highly interactive, personalised customer engagement at scale.

David Ng, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, AXA Hong Kong & Macau, said: “This partnership represents a major milestone for our AI roadmap. Access to BytePlus’s cutting-edge AI capabilities like consumer persona modelling and predictive analytics directly elevates how we understand, anticipate, and serve our customers’ needs across every touchpoint. Looking ahead, by exchanging our deep insurance knowledge with BytePlus’s technology expertise and talent, we aim to co-innovate specialised, insurance-specific AI models that drive industry-wide transformation and further strengthen AXA as a regional centre of excellence for trusted digital innovation. As we continue to scale AI across our enterprise, we maintain the highest standards of Responsible AI – ensuring strong governance and customer protection at every step of our innovation journey.”

Elsa Wang, General Manager, BytePlus Hong Kong & Macau, said: “Hong Kong is a vital international gateway for enterprise technology deployment. Partnering with AXA—a global leader with extensive insurance expertise and an expansive footprint—provides the ideal platform to co-innovate high-impact, industry-specific solutions. Insurance is one of the most dynamic sectors for AI adoption, and AXA’s forward-looking strategy makes them an exceptional partner. Together, we look forward to combining BytePlus’s advanced AI solutions with AXA’s deep knowledge to set new standards for AI innovation in the regional and global insurance market.”

About AXA Hong Kong and Macau 

AXA Hong Kong and Macau is a member of the AXA Group, a leading global insurer with presence in 52 markets and serving 92 million customers worldwide. Our purpose is to act for human progress by protecting what matters. 

As one of the most diversified insurers in Hong Kong, we offer integrated solutions across Life, Health and General Insurance. We are the largest General Insurance provider and a major Health and Employee Benefits provider. Our aim is to not only be the insurer to provide comprehensive protection to our customers, but also a holistic partner to the individuals, businesses and community we serve. At the core of our service commitment is continuous product & service innovation and customer experience enrichment, which is achieved through actively listening to our customers’ needs and leveraging and investing in technology and digital transformation. 

We embrace our responsibility to be a driving force against climate change and a force for good to create shared value for our community. Our overall Sustainability Strategy, with emphasis on nature protection, inclusive protection and social resilience, provides a foundation for integrating environmental, social and governance considerations across our business. We are proud to be the first insurer to address the importance of mental health through different products and services and thought leading iconic research. Committed to shaping a sustainable future, we contribute in diverse ways through three distinct roles – as an investor, an insurer and an exemplary company.

THIS PRESS RELEASE IS AVAILABLE ON AXA’S WEBSITE: AXA.COM.HK 

IMPORTANT LEGAL INFORMATION AND CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS CONCERNING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain statements contained herein may be forward-looking statements including, but not limited to, statements that are predictions of or indicate future events, trends, plans or objectives. Undue reliance should not be placed on such statements because, by their nature, they are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties and can be affected by other factors that could cause AXA’s actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Please refer to Part 4 – “Risk factors and risk management” of AXA’s Universal Registration Document for the year ended December 31, 2019, for a description of certain important factors, risks and uncertainties that may affect AXA’s business, and/or results of operations. AXA undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any of these forward-looking statements, whether to reflect new information, future events or circumstances or otherwise, except as part of applicable regulatory or legal obligations.

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SOURCE AXA Hong Kong and Macau

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TP Receives Frost & Sullivan’s 2026 Asia-Pacific Customer Experience Management Services Company of the Year Recognition for AI-Led Customer Experience Transformation

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TP is recognized for combining AI orchestration, operational excellence, regional scale, and customer-centric innovation to transform customer experience management services across the region.

SAN ANTONIO, Sept. 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Frost & Sullivan is pleased to announce that TP has received the 2026 Asia-Pacific Customer Experience Management Services Company of the Year Recognition for its achievements in AI-led transformation, operational excellence, customer impact, and regional growth. The recognition highlights TP’s ability to evolve beyond traditional customer experience (CX) outsourcing by combining intelligent automation, human expertise, responsible AI, and outcome-focused delivery.

Frost & Sullivan evaluates companies through a rigorous benchmarking process across two core dimensions: visionary innovation and performance, and customer impact. TP excelled in both, demonstrating its ability to align its strategy with evolving enterprise demand while executing with scale, consistency, and market responsiveness.

“TP is helping shape the next phase of CX management by moving AI from experimentation into governed and measurable operations at scale. Its combination of AI orchestration, regional delivery depth, and operational discipline gives enterprises a practical path to transform CX while preserving the human judgment and empathy that remain essential,” said Krishna Baidya, Vice President, ICT Practice at Frost & Sullivan.

Guided by a strategy centered on AI orchestration, responsible innovation, regional expansion, and customer outcomes, TP has strengthened its position across the rapidly evolving Asia-Pacific CX management services landscape. TP.ai, the company’s AI framework, orchestrates the hybrid and agentic workforce, bringing together multiple technologies including chatbots, agent assist, analytics, knowledge management, workflow automation, with data services, industry-specific applications and global TP Experts. 

Innovation remains central to TP’s approach. Its pre-built modular capabilities, including TP.ai Connect, TP.ai Assist, TP.ai Growth, TP.ai Collect, and TP.ai Data Services, enable enterprises to integrate AI into customer care and back-office operations while supporting flexibility across technologies, models, and hyperscaler ecosystems. The approach helps clients improve CX including speed and accuracy of support, productivity, automation, compliance, and program agility and success. TP’s responsible AI approach also incorporates governance controls, configurable guardrails, safety thresholds, escalation protocols, and risk monitoring.

“AI is changing the economics of customer experience, but the technology itself was never the point. The opportunity is in how enterprises rewire workflows, decisions and operating models around AI, data and human expertise — that’s the shift we talk about as Opportunity AI, and it’s where the measurable value sits. At TP, that’s the work we’re doing with clients across Asia-Pacific every day. This recognition from Frost & Sullivan is a credit to our teams for turning that opportunity into real impact,” said David Rizzo, President and CEO – APAC at TP. 

Across the region, TP combines offshore, nearshore, onshore, hybrid, and work-from-home delivery models to address diverse language, regulatory, cultural, and cost requirements. Its regional footprint supports growth in Japan, South Korea, Australia, India, China, Singapore, and the Philippines, while its local leadership model enables closer engagement with enterprise customers and market-specific needs.

Frost & Sullivan commends TP for establishing a high standard in competitive strategy, execution, innovation, and market responsiveness. The ability to combine global scale with local execution, AI-enabled transformation, and measurable customer outcomes positions TP at the forefront of the evolving CX management services industry.

Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents the Company of the Year Recognition to an organization that demonstrates excellence in strategy development and implementation, resulting in measurable improvements in competitive positioning, customer impact, and market performance.

Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Recognition
Frost & Sullivan’s Best Practices Recognitions honor companies across regional and global markets that exhibit exceptional achievement and consistent excellence in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer experience, and strategic product development. Each recognition is the result of a rigorous analytical process in which Frost & Sullivan industry experts benchmark performance through comprehensive interviews, deep-dive analysis, and extensive secondary research. The goal is to identify true best-in-class organizations that are driving transformative growth and setting new industry standards.
Contact us: Start the discussion.

Contact:
Tarini Singh
E: Tarini.Singh@frost.com 

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tp-receives-frost–sullivans-2026-asia-pacific-customer-experience-management-services-company-of-the-year-recognition-for-ai-led-customer-experience-transformation-302874449.html

SOURCE Frost & Sullivan

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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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