Bluetooth SIG Running 'Sharing4Caring' Microfinancing Program to Support Struggling Entrepreneurs.

Lending Program Gives Helping Hand to Small Entrepreneurs Struggling to Finance Work in Mobile and Wireless Space

BELLEVUE, Wash. -- The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), the organization driving development of Bluetooth[R] wireless technology and bringing it to market, has launched a global, microfinance charity initiative called Sharing4Caring that will help small entrepreneurs gain access to low-cost financing. Bluetooth wireless technology is all about connecting people to each other. Actively contributing to connecting people by lending seed money to small, third-world entrepreneurs will help give a voice and a face to the world's poorest, and a practical, viable pathway to improve their existence.

The Bluetooth SIG endeavors to attract large numbers of people worldwide to lend a hand to such entrepreneurs by pledging SIG funds via its website to raise the microfinancing for this initiative. The group has appointed person-to-entrepreneur microlending specialist Kiva as its partner.

How can you help?

Visitors to Bluetooth.com/sharing4caring can, with just one click, help people all over the world make great strides towards economic independence and improve life for themselves, their families, and their communities. Each time a visitor pushes the 'Click to Care' button, $1 USD will be added to the Sharing4Caring counter. If desired, a Facebook notification that confirms participation in the Sharing4Caring project will be posted automatically in the participant's mini-feed after clicking the 'Connect with Facebook' button. Participants can then help spread the word about their good deed through Twitter, Facebook and MySpace.

The Bluetooth SIG is pledging a minimum of $10,000 USD for lending, and if visitor response is strong an additional $15,000 USD will be added. As each $1,000 US is pledged, the Bluetooth SIG will select and lend the money to an entrepreneur via Kiva.

"Bluetooth wireless technology is all about sharing: sharing information, sharing music, sharing pictures," said Michael Foley, Ph.D., executive director of the Bluetooth SIG, and the person behind the Sharing4Caring initiative. "It enables people to share in a quick and efficient way, improving the quality of their lives."

Added Foley: "The Bluetooth SIG represents more than 12,000 members, so sharing is at the very center of everything we do. We share intellectual property, best practices, creative ideas, everything that enables us to take the next step in further enhancing Bluetooth technology. We decided to take this one step further and show how sharing can improve lives of people all over the world if we put our will and energy to it. That's also why, after careful selection, we decided that Kiva, with its strong focus on sharing, was the best fit for us in this endeavor."

What is Microfinancing

Microfinancing dates from the 1970s and the best known microfinancing institution is the Grameen Bank ('Bank of the Villages') founded in 1976 by Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh. Yunus - who was later awarded the Nobel Peace Prize - was a young economics professor who recognized that poor local craftswomen were trapped in a cycle of poverty by the extortionate cost of borrowing money used to buy the raw materials they needed. His vision was that by offering small, inexpensive loans to these people he would empower them to rise out of poverty. Yunus failed to gain support for his vision from financial institutions because they believed the poor would never be capable of repaying the loans. Consequently, he decided to lend the money himself.

Yunus quickly proved that the poor people to whom he lent money managed the funds well and, in almost all cases, repaid in full. Today some 22 million people in India have microcredit borrowings, and microfinancing has spread around the globe, being particularly popular in Latin America.

About Bluetooth[R] Wireless Technology

Bluetooth wireless technology is the global short-range wireless standard for personal connectivity of a broad range of electronic devices. The technology continues to evolve, building on its inherent strengths - small-form factor radio, low power, low cost, built-in security, robustness, ease-of-use, and ad hoc networking abilities. This evolution now provides manufacturers and consumers with three options for connecting wirelessly - classic Bluetooth technology for use in a wide range of consumer electronics; Bluetooth high speed technology for the transfer of video, music and photos between phones, cameras, camcorders, PCs and TVs; and Bluetooth low energy technology for low power sensor devices and new web services within the health and fitness, personal device, automotive and automation industries. More than eight new Bluetooth enabled products are qualified every working day and more than 19 million Bluetooth units are shipping per week. There are nearly three billion Bluetooth devices in the marketplace and that number climbs daily, making it the only proven wireless choice for developers, product manufacturers, and consumers worldwide.

About the Bluetooth SIG

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), comprised of leaders in the telecommunications, computing, consumer electronics, automotive and network industries, is driving development of Bluetooth wireless technology and bringing it to market. The Bluetooth SIG includes Promoter group companies Ericsson, Intel, Lenovo, Microsoft, Motorola, Nokia and Toshiba, along with over 12,000 Associate and Adopter member companies. The Bluetooth SIG, Inc. headquarters are located in Bellevue, Washington, U.S.A. For more information please visit www.bluetooth.com.

The Bluetooth word mark and logo are registered trademarks and are owned by the Bluetooth SIG, Inc.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=6086987&lang=en