Leapfrog Enterprises
LeapFrog's logo used since 2008. The old logos had a bouncing frog on top of the logo.
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| Industry |
Educational toys Interactive entertainment |
| Founded | 1994 |
| Founder |
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| Headquarters | Emeryville, California, U.S. |
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Area served
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Worldwide |
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Key people
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Number of employees
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579 (2014) |
| Parent | VTech |
| Website | leapfrog |
LeapFrog Enterprises Inc : LF (commonly known as LeapFrog) is an educational entertainment and electronics company based in Emeryville, California. LeapFrog designs, develops, and markets technology-based learning products and related content for the education of children from infancy through grade school. The company was founded by Michael Wood and Robert Lally in 1994. John Barbour is the chief executive officer of LeapFrog.
The history of LeapFrog traces back to the late 1980s when LeapFrog co-founder Michael Wood, an attorney at Cooley LLP, had difficulties teaching his son how to read. He began researching phonics and marketing while continuing as a partner at Cooley. By 1994, Wood had developed the first prototype of what would become Phonics Desk, LeapFrog's first product. The prototype utilized a Texas Instruments chip that was previously used by one of Wood's clients to develop talking greeting cards. Wood solicited feedback on his prototype from Robert Calfee, an expert on children’s reading development and a professor of education at the Stanford Graduate School of Education.
Wood began manufacturing the Phonics Desk in 1995. That year, Wood resigned as a partner at Cooley LLP and founded LeapFrog Enterprises with Robert Lally. The company received $800,000 in seed funding from friends, family, and former clients of Wood.Toys "R" Us became the first major retailer to carry the Phonics Desk shortly before Christmas 1995. Other retailers such as FAO Schwarz and Target later began carrying the toy.
LeapFrog had distribution in over 10 countries and a number of major clients in the US by early 1997. In March of that year, the company hired Brad Crawford, who formerly worked for Little Tikes, to oversee sales and manufacturing. Knowledge Universe acquired a majority stake in LeapFrog in October 1997. Knowledge Universe is an education company founded by brothers Lowell and Michael Milken, Larry Ellison, and Tom Kalinske. LeapFrog subsequently merged with Knowledge Universe's Knowledge Kids division. Kalinske, a former executive at Mattel, became LeapFrog chief executive officer as a result of the merger.
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