Former President Bill Clinton Honors Alternative Investor LeapFrog

In the Closing Plenary of the Clinton Global Initiative 2009, former President Bill Clinton featured LeapFrog Investments, which raised the world's first microinsurance fund.

"LeapFrog's team is widely recognized as having opened up a new frontier in microfinance and alternative investment." The former President noted, "The fund has raised $44 million from both private and public investors, towards an ultimate target of $100 million."

Before an audience of 1000 global leaders, President Clinton drew a direct link between the work of Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus to bring microcredit to millions of people, the 'Banker to the Poor,' and the work of LeapFrog as the global leader in microinsurance: "LeapFrog is quickly becoming the 'Insurer to the Poor'. Just like Yunus, [LeapFrog] is the first out of the gate, the first microinsurance fund in the world."

"For those 25 million clients, LeapFrog means the ability to leap out of poverty permanently." Dr. Andrew Kuper, President and Founder of LeapFrog said. "For our portfolio companies, LeapFrog means leaping to the next stage of growth and impact. For our investors, LeapFrog does mean the next frontier of microfinance and alternative investment."

Pierre Omidyar, Founder of EBay, immediately concurred with a post on Twitter, saying that it was "Great to see LeapFrog . . . recognized by President Clinton for work in microinsurance." The Omidyar Network is a lead investor in the fund, together with the European Investment Bank, FMO, Triodos, and Accion International.

LeapFrog's fund is now developing investment opportunities in key emerging markets such as India, Indonesia, the Philippines, South Africa, Ghana, and Kenya.