LeapFrog Raises US$44 Million for World's First Microinsurance Fund

Luxembourg (ots/PRNewswire) -

In a breakthrough for microfinance and alternative investment,
the LeapFrog Financial Inclusion Fund announced today that it has
raised US$44 million. It is the world's first investment fund focused
on microinsurance. The fund aims to invest in businesses that will
bring insurance and financial services to 25 million low-income
people in Africa and Asia.

The capital was raised from a diverse set of public and private
investors around the world, including the European Investment Bank
(EIB), FMO, Omidyar Network, Triodos-Doen, Hivos-Triodos Fund, ACCION
International, Calvert Large Cap Growth Fund, wealth manager Felipe
Medina, and the LeapFrog team. The team consists of former CEOs and
pioneers in insurance and investment in emerging markets.

"The world desperately needs market-based solutions to poverty
that draw in major financial investors by offering fair but
competitive returns," said Dr. Andrew Kuper, President and Founder of
LeapFrog. "The best part about microinsurance is that we can reach
millions of people, swiftly. Microinsurance is both profitable and
scalable. We can think big. We don't have to choose between money and
meaning."

Numerous studies have demonstrated that low-income people in
developing countries are willing and able to pay for a safety net
that protects their family or business, but they can't access
affordable and quality insurance. The 100 Country Landscape Report by
the Microinsurance Center estimated a market size of one billion
people, but found that less than three percent of these people now
have any kind of insurance.

When launching LeapFrog at the Clinton Global Initiative annual
meeting in 2008, President Bill Clinton hailed LeapFrog as the
world's largest initiative to tap this vast and underserved market.
Building on the transformative work of Nobel Peace Prize laureate
Muhammad Yunus and others in the rapidly expanding microcredit
sector, LeapFrog's microinsurance fund represents the next frontier
for low-income financial services.

"At a time of global financial crisis," Gary Herbert, a partner
in LeapFrog concluded, "we are pleased that so many leading investors
have committed their assets to this high-impact and diversifying
opportunity."

In announcing their investments today, institutional investors
emphasized the significant social impact of this for-profit fund:

- "The future of financial inclusion lies in moving microfinance beyond
credit, offering the working poor the suite of financial tools that we
(in developed countries) take for granted," said Monica Brand, a
Principal Director of ACCION.
- "Microinsurance is life-changing because it enables people to overcome
unexpected events and better plan for their future," said Matt Bannick,
Managing Partner of Omidyar Network.
- "Promoting sound access to financial services through the private
sector is a key element in achieving poverty alleviation and economic
development," said EIB's Vice President, Plutarchos Sakellaris.
- LeapFrog's investment approach "will harness the power of
entrepreneurship as a driver for economic development," said FMO's Chief
Investment Officer, Jurgen Rigterink.
- "We want to contribute to the creation of an inclusive financial
sector," concluded Femke Bos, Fund Manager at Triodos.

LeapFrog is holding a ceremony to mark the raising of this
historic fund, on June 17, 2009, at the offices of the European
Investment Bank in Luxembourg. The keynote speakers will be Mr.
Plutarchos Sakellaris (Vice President of EIB), Mr. Rigterink (Chief
Investment Officer of FMO), and Dr. Kuper. More information on
LeapFrog can be found at www.leapfroginvest.com.

ots Originaltext: LeapFrog Investments
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Contact:
Andrew Kuper, +1-917-755-0152 (CET), andykuper@leapfroginvest.com,
Jim Roth, +44-791-439-7314 (GMT), jimroth@leapfroginvest.com, or
Sarah Stevens, +1-650-482-2304 (PST), sarah@omidyar.net, all of
LeapFrog Investments