While there are existing after-market solutions for anti-theft and tracking that can be wired into a vehicle’s electric system, or slotted into the On-board diagnostics (OBD) port, clever thieves and OCGs (organized criminal groups) have learned to bypass such security devices in recent years, and now they routinely exploit the OBD port to compromise on-board security solutions. Electronic entry protocols involving near-field communications have actually exacerbated the problem in certain respects, making it easier than ever for tech savvy criminals to get into vehicles and jack into the OBD port, with recent cases showing that some thieves are now able to simply lurk in parking areas and intercept the remote locking signal as owners walk away from their vehicle.

The most recent data on vehicle theft in the U.S. from the non-profit National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), which tracks auto theft and insurance fraud, indicated a theft rate of around 800 vehicles per 100,000. This data tracks very well against the more conservative FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program data, which puts the figure closer to 230 per 100,000. According to one of the top intelligence providers to the automotive industry, SBD, vehicle theft rates are highest in South America and lowest in Europe. However, Interpol analysis makes it clear that while less prevalent, vehicle theft in Europe is much more well-coordinated overall, with vehicles disappearing across borders into neighboring countries quite easily after their security has been compromised.

Enter one Gopher Protocol Inc. (OTC: GOPH), which recently filed a patent and trademark for its revolutionary new sticky patch package, designed to offer consumers a surreptitious anti-theft global tracking solution that does not require on-board GPS, and uses a standalone encrypted private network. With battery power that lasts up to a year, the lightweight and waterproof GopherAntiTheft™ (GAT) device can be hidden anywhere in or on the vehicle and uses real-time heuristics to keep track of its location. This ingenious fusion of technologies combines a patented integrated circuit known as the GopherInsight™ chip, with a GPS chipset (where GPS is available) and/or the GopherNET™ transceiver (in the case no GPS is available), as well as a unique antenna that is married to the GopherAntiTheft (GAT) circuit.

This combination of a smart microchip/circuitry and supporting software running on a server allows users to track the unit using a mobile app or web browser, and can also help reduce insurance fees. Moving forward the company anticipates that its technology should see broader adoption across a variety of other markets, including smartphones and drones, as its microchip technologies may be installed within mobile devices, or on SIM cards. The GopherAntiTheft platform is also aligned with the goals of Horizon 2020, the EU’s biggest research and innovation effort to date, with over €80 billion in funding. Horizon 2020 is a financing framework designed to secure Europe’s competitiveness by incubating breakthroughs and world-firsts under the auspices of the Europe 2020 flagship initiative’s Innovation Union.

Headquartered in Perris, California, development-stage Gopher Protocol sees a very bright future for its anti-theft technologies and envisions the creation of a global network based on what it believes is the first system of this type to use a human heuristic-based analysis engine. The fact that the core element of the GopherAntiTheft platform is its smartchip technology, which can be installed on any mobile device, the potential of a parallel global network between mobile devices powered by GOPH technology offers tantalizing possibilities. Including the ability to enhance mobile device computing performance capabilities through the network, or provide advanced database management and sharing capabilities, as well as as-yet unforeseen features, whose implementation would be enabled by the presence of the chip/access to the network.

Given that the latest International Data Corporation analysis of the smartphone market projects a forward five-year CAGR of 7.4 percent, with around 1.43 billion units shipped last year, and that by the end of 2016 82 percent of all mobile phones are expected be smartphones – the market for GOPH is indeed quite large.

Take a closer look at this innovative anti-theft company by visiting http://gopherprotocol.com

Recently, in Avant Diagnostics set to exploit new opportunities in the laboratory testing market (http://dtn.fm/hg8TK), we reported that ‘OvaDx is now undergoing 510K trials.’ It seems we jumped the gun. We reached out to Avant’s CEO, Gregg Linn, to get clarification on our report and he confirmed that the OvaDx approval process hasn’t reached the 510K trial stage yet. Avant has been engaged in the calibration testing and validation study phases regarding OvaDx and it expects the 510K trials to commence this year. In September 2015, Avant began calibration testing in preparation for the validation study of OvaDx, which will be used to support a pre-Submission package to the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Upon completion of the calibration testing, Avant plans to test the previously purchased set of ovarian cancer specimens, including serial sets obtained from women diagnosed previously with ovarian cancer. The tests on the ovarian cancer specimens will serve as the validation study and form the basis of the pre-Submission package delivered to the FDA for review and comment prior to the commencement of the OvaDx 510(k) trial.

The OvaDx microarray test is intended for use as an aid in monitoring women diagnosed previously with ovarian cancer. The validation study and 510(k) trial will be conducted in a double-blinded environment supervised by DOCRO, Inc., an independent clinical research organization. In a double-blinded environment, neither the researchers nor the subjects participating have knowledge of whether a procedure administered is an actual test or simply a control.

The results from the validation study are expected to be published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal within six months of test completion and data analysis. 510K trials will commence after the validation study is completed. A 510(K) is a pre-market submission made to the FDA to demonstrate that the device to be marketed is at least as safe and effective as a legally marketed device. Avant believes the OvaDx test has an advantage over Roche’s CA-125 test and Vermillion’s Ova 1 test.

In October 2015, Avant received notification, through its independent clinical research organization, DOCRO, that the previously purchased specimens have been approved and are available for use in the validation study.

As seen in recent news releases, the OvaDx approval process is alive and well. And Avant is reaching out to the investor community to tell them so. Gregg Linn will be one of the speakers at the Noble Financial Capital Markets’ Twelfth Annual Investor Conference (NobleCon12) in Sandpiper Bay, Florida, on Tuesday, January 19, 2016.

From January 22, 2016, a high-definition video web-cast of Gregg’s presentation and a copy of the presentation materials will be available on the Avant Diagnostics website and as part of a complete catalog of presentations available at Noble Financial websites: www.noblefcm.com, or www.nobleconference.com.

For more information, visit the company website at www.avantdiagnostics.com

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FlexWeek, a pioneer in the global peer-to-peer (P2P) marketplace with the introduction of a unique platform that allows timeshare owners to discover, book and offer unused vacation time directly to the public and other timeshare owners, today announced that it has engaged the Corporate Communications Services of QualityStocks. Based in Scottsdale, Arizona, QualityStocks has assisted more than 300 public companies with their efforts to broaden influence, attract growth capital and improve shareholder value over the past 9 years and 11 months.

“We’re heading into 2016 with a clear vision of our business strategy to penetrate the market with our revolutionary platform designed for a key niche in the travel and hospitality industries,” says FlexWeek CEO Kristopher Chavez. “A vital component of this strategy is focused on raising awareness of our brand while enhancing communication with our existing shareholders and potential investors. Our partnership with QualityStocks is instrumental in achieving these initiatives.”

Under the agreement, QualityStocks will strategically leverage its network of partners, daily and weekly newsletters, social media channels, blog and other outreach tools to relay FlexWeek’s corporate message and progress to the investment community.

“FlexWeek has shared with us its exciting plans for the upcoming year, and we’re honored to assist the company in achieving its communication and outreach needs to fulfill this vision,” says QualityStocks Managing Director Michael McCarthy. “The company is trailblazing its target market and we look forward to playing a part in helping this exciting company reach its corporate communication goals.”

For more information, visit www.flexweek.com

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This Wednesday, January 13, the leading high-end organic food-focused restaurant and play space, designed specifically to cater to families and children, Giggles N’ Hugs (OTCQB: GIGL), will be prominently featured from 5AM to 9:30AM, live on Los Angeles’ most-watched local AM news, KTLA 5. The first commercial TV station licensed west of the Mississippi River, with a broadcasting record stretching back to 1947, KTLA, the Los Angeles CW affiliate of Chicago-based Tribune Media’s (NYSE: TRCO) Tribune Broadcasting subsidiary, is watched by more adults aged 18 to 49 and 25 to 54 than any other local news in all of Los Angeles.

Needless to say, this is a huge boon for the already thriving Giggles N’ Hugs brand, which has become an extremely popular venue for families who want to get a top-quality meal and also go someplace where their youngest ones can be completely at ease. Voted the number one family restaurant and birthday party place in all LA, Giggles N’ Hugs is proud to welcome the broadcast of KLTA 5’s Morning News with Emmy Award-winning reporter and anchor Wendy Burch to the company’s flagship Century City Westfield Mall location. Giggles N’ Hugs encourages families to RSVP using info@gigglesnhugs.com to take advantage of limited space, as well as have the opportunity to appear on live TV.

The first lucky 30 families to arrive at the event, which will feature free entertainment, food and drinks, will also receive a three-month membership valued at over $90, good at any Giggles N’ Hugs location, including the ones at Glendale Galleria and the Westfield Topanga Shopping Center. Wednesday’s event will also showcase four of the company’s numerous party themes, such as dinosaur, cartoon pups, jungle, mermaid, pirate, princess, rock star, and superheroes for both boys, and girls. Also on-hand at the event will be some of the wonderful live entertainment offerings that Giggles N’ Hugs has become known by parents throughout LA for, including a live music performance by acclaimed local kids music duo BeatBuds, as well as a puppet show, live DJ dance party, and face painting.

This event will bring even more public exposure to the increasingly popular Giggles N’ Hugs family-friendly restaurants and aid in the ongoing expansion of the brand nationwide, as well as globally, under the auspices of such sweetheart deals as the generous opening of Westfield’s (OTC: WEFIF) entire portfolio of malls to the company for future locations. Investors should bear in mind how the company’s extremely attractive business model has already allowed GIGL to rake in over $1.5 million in upfront cash for construction financing from LA-based venues eager to retain Giggles N’ Hugs as a tenant.

This exceptional advantage allows GIGL unprecedented leeway when it comes to expanding the business to more locations and, as Shannon Westmore, VP of Leasing for Westfield, recently put it, Giggles N’ Hugs has already helped transform both the Century City and Topanga malls into major family destinations. This key synergistic factor will continue to play a vital role for GIGL’s business model moving forward, and access to Westfield’s enormous footprint, which saw over 435 million customer visits across 40 malls last year, is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to expansion potential for the company.

With a firm foundation already established at some of the hottest shopping centers in LA, a sprawling metropolis of over 18.5 million people, GIGL is well on its way to becoming the dominant force in family-friendly restaurants, and offers a wide variety of services to help cement this role, including a child drop off service for parents.

Learn more by visiting www.gigglesnhugs.com

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FlexWeek, Inc. is a pioneer in the global peer-to-peer (P2P) marketplace with the introduction of a unique platform that allows timeshare owners to discover, book and offer unused vacation time directly to the public and other timeshare owners. This approach eliminates the need for timeshare owners to use costly trading platforms such as Interval International or RCI, while potentially reducing unused timeshare inventory.

FlexWeek’s P2P website (www.FlexWeek.com) and mobile application is similar to AirBNB’s $20 billion approach to the travel industry, but is the first and only P2P marketplace exclusive to fractional vacation ownerships. FlexWeek differs from the existing model, where timeshare weeks must be “banked” with a trading company such as Interval International or RCI, and instead charges the booking fees to the renter of the vacation time, eliminating the cost to the private timeshare owner.

The FlexWeek platform also addresses another specific industry challenge. The average timeshare is only booked 79% of the year, according to the American Resort Development Association’s 2012 research survey. Whether or not a privately owned timeshare unit is used, the owner still has to pay annual maintenance fees, and most owners end up losing thousands of dollars in wasted paid-for vacation time over their ownership period. With FlexWeek, an owner of unused paid vacation time can now offer their specific booked week for rent directly to the FlexWeek marketplace to recoup cost or even make a profit on the rental. The glut of unused timeshare inventory allows a potential renter to stay in a very nice condo for a fraction of what they would pay in hotel fees making it a win-win for both the owner and the renter of the vacation time.

Led by founder Kristopher Chavez, who has more than 10 years of experience operating businesses that acquire, rent, sell and transfer timeshares internationally, FlexWeek’s management team will leverage its collective expertise to facilitate the company’s direction and growth in this new market. FlexWeek’s leadership has founded rapidly growing sales organizations generating 8-figure revenues within a year’s time, and has experience scaling other models to financial success and/or acquisition rapidly with limited investment.

For more information, visit www.flexweek.com

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Freedom Leaf, a leading marketing and business resource for the cannabis, industrial hemp, and medical marijuana industries, has its roots in the vision of its founders, representing decades of experience in the marijuana legalization movement. The company does not handle, grow, sell, or dispense marijuana or related products, but rather is a movement marketing company bringing together a fast-growing industry and the public. It does this through a variety of media resources, providing news and industry information, while offering a range of business services, including marketing, advertising, and consulting, to help the many young companies in the industry develop.

In addition to Freedom Leaf’s popular Freedom Leaf magazine, now available in 32 states, the company is also growing on the Internet, with a number of current and developing online sites, all designed to help educate, advocate, and assist in the burgeoning industry:

• FreedomLeaf.com
• MarijuanaNews.com
• LadyCannabis.com
• Cannabis Business University
• CannabisSeminars.com
• CampusCannabisDebate.com
• CannaSpa.com
• Vegasterdam.com

According to the company, Freedom Leaf’s three essential areas of operation are:

1) Licensing of brands, in which licensees can market and sell Freedom Leaf magazine, website advertising, products, services, seminars, musical festivals, and other branded products
2) Acquiring and incubating new and existing businesses entering into the cannabis/hemp industry – ultimately purposed for spin-off
3) Entering into branding, marketing, and promotion contracts, with both profit and non-profit organizations, for which Freedom Leaf has extensive and far-reaching promotional capabilities

In the words of the Freedom Leaf founders:

Richard Cowan (Founder) – “Freedom Leaf, the Marijuana Legalization Company, is focused on ending marijuana prohibition. But this is also an experiment in a new form of social – not just political – activism. We are combining the motivation of entrepreneurial spirit with a devotion to personal liberty. You can’t get more American than that!”

Clifford Perry (CEO, President, Co-Founder) – “The Freedom Leaf vision is to build brands associated with the legalization of marijuana. We are growing a marketing network from the roots up. Our goal is to support the movement. We are focused on advocacy and publishing stories that promote legalization, while appealing to the broader, non-consuming population at the same time.”

For more information, visit http://freedomleaf.com

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International Stem Cell Corp., a clinical stage biotech company developing novel stem cell-based therapies, has signed a master clinical research agreement with the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health to conduct phase I/IIa clinical trial, dose escalation trial of human parthenogenetic stem cells-derived neural stem cells (ISC-hpNSC) in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients. ISCO said it expects to enroll all patients into the clinical trial in the first quarter of 2016, with interim results available in October.

ISCO is well-paired with the Florey Institute, which is staffed with the largest neuroscience research team in Australia and ranked as one of the world’s leading brain research centers. Also participating in the clinical study is Dr. Andrew Evans, M.D., director of the Movement Disorders Service at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, who will be the study’s principal investigator. Dr. Evans heads numerous clinical research trials, and has extensively published on PD, particularly addressing symptoms that impact on the quality of life of sufferers. He is also a member of the Melbourne Health Ethics Committee.

“We recently received authorization to initiate phase I/IIa and now we are moving forward towards formal engagement of the clinical site to conduct this study. We are excited to work together with the Florey to conduct the clinical trials of ISC-hpNSC at the Royal Melbourne Hospital,” Russell Kern, PhD, executive vice president and chief scientific officer of ISCO, stated in the news release.

ISC-hpNSC consists of a highly pure population of neural stem cells derived from human parthenogenetic stem cells. Preclinical studies in rodents and non-human primates have shown improvement in PD symptoms and increase in brain dopamine levels following the intracranial administration of ISC-hpNSC. ISC-hpNSC are safe, well-tolerated and do not cause adverse events such as dyskinesia, systemic toxicity or tumors in preclinical models.

ISCO is also exploring ISC-hpNSC’s potential in broad therapeutic applications for many neurological diseases affecting the brain, the spinal cord and the eye.

For more information, visit www.internationalstemcell.com

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Nutra Pharma Corp., a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the acquisition, licensing and marketing of homeopathic treatments and ethical drugs for the management of pain, neurological disorders, cancer, auto-immune and infectious diseases, today announces that it has engaged the Corporate Communications Services of QualityStocks. Based in Scottsdale, Arizona, QualityStocks has assisted more than 300 public companies with their efforts to broaden influence, attract growth capital and improve shareholder value over the past 9 years and 11 months.

“We are pleased to have engaged the services of QualityStocks and look forward to a long and fruitful relationship with them as we work to better communicate our progress with shareholders and the general public,” said Nutra Pharma’s chairman and CEO Rik Deitsch. “We believe that Nutra Pharma has an important role to play not only in the traditional ethical arena, but in the less-well-known homeopathic domain as well. We are committed to increasing corporate value through the continued discovery of revolutionary pharmaceutical treatments, expanded distribution reach, and general brand awareness.”

Under the agreement, QualityStocks will strategically use its network of partners, daily and weekly newsletters, social media channels, blog and other outreach tools to relay Nutra Pharma’s corporate message and progress to the investment community.

“QualityStocks enthusiastically welcomes Nutra Pharma,” said Managing Director Michael McCarthy. “Nutra Pharma is one of those progressive pioneering companies that do more than sell products; their work makes our lives better. It is an honor to have the Nutra Pharma team on board and we look forward to helping the company reach its corporate communication goals.”

For more information on the company, visit www.NutraPharma.com

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Email has become an essential factor for nearly every business in existence today, serving a wide variety of roles ranging from internal communications and business intelligence enabling, to end market engagement and the growth of a given brand’s presence. In fact, a recent report published earlier this year by digital technology-focused analysts eMarketer.com indicates that email use in the U.S. has not only increased some 6.3 percent since 2013 to around 233 million users (72.4 percent market penetration), but that by 2019 overall penetration will hit upwards of 90 percent of all internet users. This is a massive target for businesses and is a major reason why email marketing is still king, despite the growth of social media marketing as a component of an overall marketing effort.

Private internet media heavy-hitter BuzzFeed, for instance, relies heavily on driving traffic back to their site via emails containing original content, and email is routinely one of its top five or six traffic drivers each month, ranking right alongside Twitter and Pinterest. Coming from an entity like BuzzFeed that gets 200-plus million unique visitors each month, news that email traffic grew by around 20 percent in 2013 and 2014 month-over-month should serve as an important lesson to investors and businesses alike about the importance of email to the bottom line.

The eMarketer report mentioned earlier also indicated that around 35.6 percent of internet users actively subscribe to emails from brands in order to stay up to date on the latest news and information, as well as gain access to timely offers or discounts on a given product. However, because email isn’t a standalone storage solution, one of the hottest growth areas today is email archiving solutions, the market for which is expected to maintain a CAGR of nearly 14 percent from 2015 to 2019, according to market research publishing giant Technavio.

Archiving emails and other unstructured data for everything from compliance and risk mitigation, to governance and cost optimization, has become a major focus for SME and enterprise companies, as well as educational institutions and government agencies. In fact, a study from renowned market research, analysis and advisory firm IDC (International Data Corporation) out earlier this year in June, which looked at both the top SaaS (software-as-a-service) companies and ISVs (independent software vendors), indicated that the global archiving software market hit $1.5 billion last year. The strongest growth for the industry is coming from cloud archiving, which is set to deliver a 9.3 percent CAGR through 2019.

Little wonder then that iGambit (OTCQB: IGMB), an extremely lithe, diversified holding company and enterprise incubator focused on early-stage tech companies with viral potential, recently acquired Network Products Guide Product Innovation Award recipient, ArcMail Technology. iGambit subsequently announced the selling off of certain assets of its wholly-owned Gotham Innovation Lab subsidiary, in order to plough the proceeds from the sale directly into the accelerated development of ArcMail’s promising email archiving and management solutions. Solutions aimed not only at providing comprehensive and readily accessible storage, but boosting network performance and satisfying increasingly stringent regulatory requirements as well.

This strategic move by iGambit is perfectly aligned with the company’s core values, which emphasize the targeting and development of such companies as ArcMail that have runaway potential, but which require IGMB’s strategic guidance and operational support in order to take things to the next level. Even in an industry dominated by major players like Rackspace (NYSE: RAX) and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), whose Amazon Web Services was once again top-ranked by marketing, research and advisory firm Gartner this year in cloud IaaS (infrastructure as a service), as well as cloud-connected appliance players like Barracuda (NYSE: CUDA), there is ample room for an investor-accessible company like IGMB, whose now wholly-owned ArcMail subsidiary is geared more towards the SME market.

By providing a diverse array of simplified, affordable solutions that are ideal for smaller companies, which still possess the kind of robust security and broad-spectrum archival capabilities on offer from sector majors, ArcMail is able to hit the sweet spot time and again with stunning agility, directly competing with juggernauts like Amazon, which services companies ranging from Nike (NYSE: NKE) to Siemens (OTC: SIEGY). A good example of this is how ArcMail was chosen by wholly-owned Power Solutions International (NASDAQ: PSIX) subsidiary Power Great Lakes to fulfill its email archiving needs with a secure, readily accessible solution that ensures content is neither altered or deleted.

After extensive due diligence by Power Great Lakes’ IT Manager, involving the vetting of numerous software and appliance based solutions, ArcMail’s flagship Defender™ appliance was chosen to avoid clunky alternatives like storing old mail on Exchange, which is a considerable network performance hit, putting a strain on the server(s) and requiring unwieldy backup times. ArcMail’s Defender line of email archiving hardware has been deployed everywhere from K-12 school districts and universities, to government agencies like the Louisiana Governor’s Office of Homeland Security, and finance concerns such as Franklin Financial Network’s (NYSE: FSB) wholly-owned banking subsidiary, Franklin Synergy Bank.

With a slew of offerings on the table ranging from ArcMail’s fully hosted and managed archiving solution, to cloud-driven archiving through ArcMail’s cloud storage gateway, and virtual machine-driven archiving through a VMware environments-based implementation equivalent to the company’s Defender line, ArcMail has a suite of choices able to satisfy any client’s needs. Moreover, the company has a range of market-driven archiving products like ArcMail Guardian™ that can automatically encode, index and archive inbound, outbound and internal mail, and is designed to be the perfect one-stop-shop appliance solution for Google Apps™ and Office 365 Mail. There is also ArcMail’s solutions for SharePoint™ Files, Salesforce Chatter™ conversations, and social media interactions.

This is a shrewd move for a veteran incubator like iGambit, which has a considerable track record of success with hands-on development of startups into multi-million dollar businesses, all accomplished using its own capital. With a deep bench of veteran executives led by IGMB’s President, Chairman and CEO, John Salerno, who has spent over four decades on the frontlines in public and private computer software and service companies, iGambit has the talent and the vision needed to continue executing on its acquisition and development goals.

The focus for IGMB moving forward will continue to be on acquisition targets that have high-margin, predictable earnings potential, where iGambit can step in and assist with crystallizing the licensing and servicing capabilities that form the foundation of a given recurring revenue model. Long-term stockholder value accretion is the overarching objective for IGMB, which facilitates partner company network growth until such time as the matured entity can be profitability spun-off.

To get a closer look at iGambit’s strategy, visit http://www.igambit.com

Legacy Ventures International today announced that it is now compliant with Blue Sky Laws in 46 states. According to the press release, Blue Sky Monitoring has conducted an audit of the company’s Blue Sky status.

“We are pleased that over 92 percent of the population can now invest in Legacy Ventures and participate in the growth from Boxed Water, our leading product in Canada,” commented Evan Clifford, CEO of Legacy Ventures.

Blue Sky Laws were established to protect investors from fraud. Broker dealers are not allowed to recommend, solicit or discuss a security with a client unless that security is compliant with the Blue Sky Laws of the state in which the investor resides. These laws are applied in addition to federal securities laws.

For more information, visit www.legacyventuresinc.com

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