All posts by PLUGHITZ Live

Healthy Dining is a world-wide app for plant-based restaurants



Healthy Dining Vegan Restaurant FinderPeople that live on a plant-based diet have special needs. They require an environment that is restrictive in that they cannot have any cross-contamination of certain foods. Some do not eat any dairy or animal by-products or any foods that animals are involved in, in ay way, such as honey being produced by bees. This can be incredibly difficult when dining out especially in a new and unfamiliar area. That’s where Healthy Dining becomes your friend.

This app provides a location-based curated list of plant-based restaurants that allows you to eat out safely and not have to worry about your restrictions and cross-contamination. In addition to being able to find the ideal places to eat, Healthy Dining allows you to find others who, like you, want to share meals and dining experiences. You create a profile from which others can see and it brings together new friends who have a common bond. In this app, you can view the menu options of the restaurants, and see what specials they have to offer as well as read any reviews posted. The location is chosen by the city, state or zip code.

Restaurants cannot be vegan- or vegetarian-friendly or simply offer vegan and vegetarian options; the entire menu must comply with vegan or vegetarian standards. Ebony McCormick, founder and CEO of Healthy Dining, has individually verified each restaurant on the platform for compliance. For Ebony, part of her research is reaching out to restaurants to make sure not only does the food that is served follow her requirements but the facility itself also has to. There are currently 1500 restaurants available to review and the number is growing.

The app is currently available for $1.99 to download and to allow more profiles to view, it is $1.99 per month. For more information go to her website.

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Deep Money is bringing the power of AI to personal investments



DeepMoney.ai Stock InvestmentStock markets can be a difficult beast for most people to understand. How do you maintain a portfolio be it a small personal portfolio or a full hedge fund, keep it diverse enough to protect itself, as well as profitable? It requires a lot of work, a lot of information, and the ability to make decisions based on all of that. People are okay at pulling all of that together, but computers are getting to be better at it. That’s where Deep Money comes in.

This artificial intelligence system is designed to watch for certain leading indicators across a stock market and make buying and selling decisions and predictions based on those indicators. Large investors, like hedge funds, use technology like this every day to manage their millions of dollars, but nothing lie it has never been available to the average investor. Now, everyone can have the ability to manage their money, no matter how much, without having to hover over a computer all day, every day.

Deep Money is so confident in their technology that they are putting their money where their mouth is. They believe that the only way to prove out the technology is to use it in live markets. As part of that test, they are developing an in-house hedge fund which will be the first-ever fully autonomous hedge fund in Latin America and will be built on their technology.

The platform also offers a robust API, allowing customers to build additional systems on top of the existing technology. This could be a custom reporting application or a complete way to manage and maintain your investments.

The platform is live right now in the US and India, with the company running live tests in the market. For more information on Deep Money, check out the company’s website.

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BantuFin wants to bring transparency to credit confidence score



BantuFin Credit ScoreIn the United States, we have had an established credit system for a long time. While the system is good at the thing it was designed to do, the world has gotten more complex. The value of a single, combined number when applying for a new cell phone plan, for example, is not the same as the value of that number for a large transaction, like a mortgage. More information is always better than less information when making an important decision. Providing that detailed information is the ultimate goal of BantuFin, a new take on payment reporting.

The system works on a familiar concept of 5-star ratings. But, rather than being a hidden, secret sauce value, you can dig down into the reasons behind the value. To use the previous example of a cell phone account, perhaps the company isn’t interested in the credit card you got tricked into in college but instead is only interested to see that you have never defaulted on a wireless carrier before. That information can create a better, more informed decision.

More important than augmenting an aging system in the US, there are countries across the world that have no way of reporting payment history at all. BantuFin can easily integrate into those places and bring a new and important aspect to an emerging economy.

In addition to the reporting features, BantuFin has a host of features for the individual as well. You can see your overall committed expenditures in one place, so you can easily build a financial plan for payments and savings. You can also get a real-time view of your score and the individual aspects that have lead to that score.

BantuFin is available now through invitation. To find out more about the platform, how it works, or to request an invitation, check out their website.

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Common Networks is developing a wireless home internet service



Common NetworksA Stable internet connection is one of the most important parts of modern life. For most people, if they’re at home and the internet connection goes down, they don’t know what to do with themselves. We rely on it for work, entertainment and, for some of us, even for food. Somehow, despite our reliance on the technology, it has not improved in any meaningful way in years. Most of us still rely on copper wires that were placed in the ground decades ago to provide our connection to the outside world. Common Networks has a new idea, using a decentralized wireless network structure to make installation easy and connectivity nearly unbreakable.

Using a combination of wireless technologies, the company is producing a wide-area mesh network. This means that if one node is damaged, the network traffic can route around the bad node and keep your internet connection alive. It also means that the network setup is less expensive to maintain because there will be no emergency late-night service tech calls, which can be a huge cost for a network operator. This cost-saving is passed on to the users, with 300 Mbps running only $49 per month with no installation fee, additional taxes, or equipment rentals.

Impressively, this is accomplished without the speed degradation we have seen with previous wireless networks. When 4G, both LTE and WiMax, came about, companies tried to build home systems on top of that technology. Unfortunately, the strength of the signal and the design of the networks made it impossible. That is no longer the case, as Common Networks has worked through those issues, designing a custom network infrastructure that is cloud-controlled and self-healing.

The company is in active development of its network in a handful of cities in California, with hopes to expand beyond the state. For more information and to see if your address is covered, check out their website.

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http://media.blubrry.com/plughitz/s3.wasabisys.com/specialevents/collision/2019/video/collision2019-41-HealthSonics.mp4



LISA Life Saving RobotWhile it may not be at the forefront of most of our minds, drowning is a huge problem. Every 60 seconds, someone in the world dies from drowning. Children are particularly at risk because they have less self-awareness, spatial awareness, and life experience to prevent a dangerous situation and to alleviate one that has already begun. Because of this ever-present danger, a new robot from Health Sonics has entered the scene, and her name is LISA.

LISA is a truly life-saving robot, intended to help prevent this high number of deaths. She accomplishes this in a couple of steps. The first is through detection and alert. This works similarly to other detection machines, recognizing the signs of a struggle and alerting an outside party, such as a parent or emergency services.

While this is a good feature, it is not unique. Where LISA sets herself apart from other detection systems is that she can actively come to the rescue of the person in trouble. While LISA is alerting the outside world to trouble, she is also able to swim to the person in need and bring them back to the surface of the water. She does this by wrapping herself around the person and holding them above the surface.

In addition to the feature of maintaining the drowning person above the water, LISA also monitors vital signs. This is helpful for the people who come to the rescue, whether it be a family member or emergency services. This could be an essential piece of the puzzle for helping to make sure that the rescue is a success.

LISA is available for pre-order now and is designed to work in both private, public, and commercial pool environments. For more information about LISA, or to pre-order your LISA, check out the company’s website.

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Allergy Butler: a smart approach to airborne allergies in your home



Allergy Butler Home Allergy CareAllergy Butler is a full-service airborne allergy service that brings FDA-approved testing and therapies that can bring you and your family lasting allergy relief, without the need to spend hours at a doctors office. The founder’s family suffered from debilitating airborne allergies, and it is in that spirit that they wanted to offer everyone a convenient allergy treatment that actually works, by bringing together the best research, technology, and experience for you.

Allergies are the 3rd most common chronic disease. Between 30 and 40% of all Americans suffer from them, while also being responsible for 70% of asthma flare-ups, 65% of respiratory infections, and 80% of ear, nose, and throat infections. The service works in 12 easy steps. They arrive at your home, get your basic health information and vitals. They then perform an allergy test, utilizing Comforten: a method that places tiny barbs on your arm that you can barely see and feels as though someone laid a wire brush across your skin. Placing the device 3 times on each arm, they can test for 58 allergens common in your area in addition to 2 control allergens. This is all done quickly because they are doing 10 at a time. Allergy Butler then measures your reaction to the allergens which often manifest as small bumps similar to mosquito bites.

Inputting that information into their software analyzes your results against allergy research, chemistry, botany, biology and anatomy, and even weather patterns. This can provide instant results to create the perfect therapy. A week later they return to your home with a custom immunotherapy regiment, bringing you all the supplies you need, plus training you on everything you need to know. Once you’re trained you start your shots, using the smallest needles available, injecting into the abdomen because there is more fat and fewer nerves, resulting in less pain than in the arm.

If airborne allergies ail you, Allergy Butler may just be the solution. For more information visit the company’s website.

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Blumberg Capital takes the necessary risks to create a better future



Blumberg Capital Venture Capital FirmCollision Conference is a marketplace in and of itself in the startup community with so many fresh ideas that have been cooking in the great minds of passionate entrepreneurs who are just starting. We have been fortunate over the years to get to know so many of these young companies as they forge their way from concept to successful business. And even though some of them are not able to fully realize their dream this go around, the process is exciting and important, nonetheless. Unfortunately, as we all know too well, an idea nowadays simply isn’t enough to bring a product to life in the world. Ideas need resources, many resources, to get started, and a lot of these early-stage companies with prototypes just don’t have funds readily accessible. Lucky for them, there are people like David Blumberg, founder of Blumberg Capital, that seek out powerful and unique designs, even with nothing yet to show.

Blumberg Capital is an early-stage, focused venture capital firm that invests in the dreams that passionate entrepreneurs breathe. Their goal is to take these fresh ideas and skyrocket them to build a successful technology company through necessary resources to survive such as finances, business development, customers, and talent acquisition. They benefit from businesses thriving, so they do everything in their power to help an entrepreneur succeed.

Operating for 30 years in North America and Israel, Blumberg Capital manages approximately 550 million US Dollars under management across 5 different funds. Blumberg currently has a partnership with 64 companies as of Collision 2019 and is excited to continue growing for a better and brighter future.

David has an eye for the future and finds excitement in events such as Collision because it bleeds creativity that shows what the can future hold. This is the same energy that our PLuGHiTz team enjoys speaking with to help the same companies gain more coverage and expand their base.

For more information about Blumberg Capital, you can visit their website.

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MsBizWiz absolutely has a knack for making networking a lot of fun



MsBizWiz Jean ChowAs I’m sure most of our followers know by now, in between all of the long hours and hard work, our PLuGHiTz Live crew has a lot of fun while we are out and about, filming special events. It truly is wonderful to not only love the work we are doing but to also make an adventure out of everything that we do. And one of the best parts of our job is how we get to meet such amazing people along the way.

This year at Collision Conference 2019, we were very lucky to have had the most extraordinary volunteer in the Media Village, Jean Chow. Jean took such good care of us by not only escorting the guests that had signed up for interviews over to our booth but also bringing us suggestions for additional interviews as she met interesting people throughout her day. We quickly found out that Jean loves all of the same techie, start-up and production stuff that we do and is very active in her entrepreneurial activities. So as we got to a point in our day with an extra few minutes between guests, it was only natural to call her over to chat with us in more detail.

Jean has an extensive resume that includes being an Instructor at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies. In this capacity, she can really let her personality shine. She has a special knack to help people learn that connecting with others is a valued skill that helps build relationships. Through her workshops, students can view networking as a tool to learn and grow, not just as a necessary evil. She puts into practice what she refers to as “The Five Hacks for Powerful Networking” in her classes and can do so in the most fun and interesting ways. She brings it to life through story-telling, improv, and sharing networking best practices.

Many of us on the team now follow Jean on social media and, again, love how she brings her personality into her daily journeys. Make sure to watch Jean’s interview and you’ll see just how contagious her energy is. And to find out more, you can check out her website and also follow all of her adventures on Instagram.

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Play a fun game and earn crypto coin at the same time with Hedgie



Hedgie Crypto GameAt PLuGHiTz Live, we enjoy getting out and covering special events like Collision Conference. When we do these special events, we love being among the first to get a glimpse of new products. This is especially true when it comes to the new mobile apps, and even more so when they are games. Hedgie co-founder, Stas Zlobinski, stopped by to show us their fun new game, and we were not disappointed.

Hedgie is a unique strategy and exploration game that is free to play. You start by choosing your Hedgie. Each of these legendary creatures come with an interesting backstory with unique powers and skillsets. They are considered skilled explorers with a storied past that are limited edition digital collectibles (or “crypto-collectibles”) and they are on a never-ending mission to uncover lost treasure and ultimately earn you Curio coin. Your journey with your Hedgie takes you through four unique kingdoms, digging up all kinds of loot that will boost your Hedgie’s performance. And to make it even better, you also earn crypto coin along the way. There are four different kingdoms to explore and you need to strategize as you go.

The coin that you collect is also spendable in real-world businesses. They have partnered with a few global businesses, so far. This was important to them because it is a game that will have players throughout the world. Most of their current partners are located in Toronto, as that is where the app has been launched initially. Some of the partnerships are with businesses that sell digital products which makes it easier to give their users things like a free one month subscriptions or free items in exchange for coins. So users make this coin in the game and then spend it on real-world awards. They can also make purchases within the game, to enhance their level of play.

You can learn more about this exciting game that we all downloaded right there in Toronto by watching the full interview. You can also get more details by visiting their website.

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Chumaround brings like-minded people together for travel and dining



Chumaround Local Travel ExperiencesImagine being able to travel to a particular city without the fear of not knowing anyone or where to go to get the best experience possible. Chumaround is now available to help alleviate that problem. Michael Cruz is the CEO and is very excited to share his business to help people with their travel experiences. Chumaround is a web-based platform that connects travelers with locals who are like-minded in their interests.

Based in Orlando, they currently have 6500 hosts available in 100 of the biggest cities in America and are rapidly growing in Europe and Asia. After being compared to a tour guide, Michael says “We are everything a tour guide is not.” He gives the example of being a “traditional traveler”: having taken pictures from a bus window and posting them on Facebook. With Chumaround, you get to become an “experiential traveler”, that being one who can truly experience the full culture, food, and people of the area. You can enjoy it much more because you are getting the effect by sharing it with someone who shares your interests and appreciation. You can and are supporting locals when you sign up for Chumaround.

In addition to making travel engaging, Chumaround can be an exciting and very beneficial tool to use if you are relocating to a new area. One of the most challenging parts of moving to a new area is meeting and making nee friends. Whether it be for relocating for business or starting a new married life or even going to college, this can help ease your frustrations and make your life a lot easier because you have people to associate with that are like yourself in their interests.

This new and exciting platform is currently available now globally. For more information and to book an experience, go the website.

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