Kerpoof, a web-based creative design suite for children that launched at 2007’s TechCrunch 40, has been acquired by Disney. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Kerpoof’s online portal at Kerpoof.com will continue to operate as its technology is deployed on Disney’s homepage.
Kerpoof is a good fit for Disney: the company’s technology is primarily image-based with little instruction needed so it’s ideal for kids, and it has become increasingly popular in classrooms worldwide. Creating a picture generally consists of dragging and dropping images from the site’s large collection of clip art, but users can also draw their own doodles and insert speech bubbles. The editor also includes a number of ’smart’ features – for example, as users move their images through the pseudo-3D landscapes, the editor will automatically resize them to fit perspective. Kerpoof has a half-dozen different editing modes, including movies, E-cards, pictures, and story books, each of which takes advantage of the same accessible interface.
Disney has already begun to integrate the technology on its Disney Characters site (click the button that says ‘Make a Picture’), where users can create custom Disney-themed images, which they can then print out to make a personalized coloring book. It’s likely we’ll see more new features that take of Kerpoof’s technology in the near future.
catering to kids is big business. a very under-served niche
huh? “Under-served”? Don’t have kids do you? This market has been “served” for a number of years…
i think he meant underserved, with respect to the interactive media startup space, and i would tend to agree with him on this one; i don’t think most digital media entrepreneurs think “kids” when they think of the next big thing. disney is clearly interested in this space (with club penguin and now kerpoof), and i’m sure others are as well, so it’s a good market to hit for new entrepreneurs
I agree, it’s not the most targetted market and with Disney’s acquisition, are we going to see more startups like this?
TechFilipino
Are you guys kidding? There are well over 100 virtual worlds in production or already running for children. Nearly a quarter of them have product tie-ins. I hardly call that “underserved” or “not targeted.”
And as far as catering to kids not being big business…have you ever walked in to any kind of store or watched television? No matter where you go there are licensed products being shoved in the faces of parents and children alike. You can’t even walk through a grocery store anymore without seeing Ben10 fruit snacks or Spongebob yogurt and all of those products have links to special websites on them.
童年的回忆
Do you have an english version of your blog. Looks like you got somethng to say.
Could be a great alternative to webkins.
Great news
You should watch also KIDO’Z , we had the chance to see their full product and they have a very good chance to be the next big thing in the kids market
Check out woldme.com they also launched in China and are one of the fastest growing kids sites in China they have hit 100,000 subscribers in 3 months vvdragon.com
the USA site has not been marketed yet they are still raising more funds for marketing though they have just signed some major partnering deals
My Dad never understood why I liked Kid Pix when we had Photoshop. . .
Check out http://www.biguniverse.com/