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On October 4, 2012, Knowledge Adventure announced that it was changing its name to JumpStart and forming a strategic alliance with DreamWorks Animation to create online and mobile learning games. The first releases were built around Madagascar, alongside an undisclosed financing round backed by Azure Capital Partners, TeleSoft Partners, and other investors.
The announcement combined four related but distinct developments: a corporate rebrand, a DreamWorks franchise alliance, two product launches, and new financing. It did not announce a merger, acquisition, jointly owned company, or formal joint venture.
From Knowledge Adventure to JumpStart
Knowledge Adventure was an established children’s educational-software company associated with the JumpStart and Math Blaster brands. In 2012, it announced that it was adopting JumpStart as its principal outward-facing identity, reflecting a stronger emphasis on adventure-based learning and immersive digital play.
The announcement did not establish that Knowledge Adventure immediately ceased to exist as a legal entity. It described a name change and noted that “Knowledge Adventure” and “JumpStart” were registered marks or service marks of Knowledge Holdings, Inc.
CEO David Lord presented the new name as a better expression of the company’s excitement, fun, and adventure-oriented approach. The change was also strategic: contemporary coverage by GamesBeat connected it to a move away from boxed educational software sold through retail stores and toward browser-based and mobile games.
What DreamWorks Animation contributed
The relationship was announced as a strategic alliance. JumpStart would develop online and mobile learning adventures featuring characters and worlds from DreamWorks Animation franchises, initially beginning with Madagascar.
DreamWorks executive Jim Mainard described the arrangement as a way to introduce learning adventures incorporating recognizable DreamWorks characters. The available announcement supports a content and product-development relationship, but does not disclose joint ownership, shared corporate control, a DreamWorks acquisition, or a newly incorporated partnership.
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The first products
Madagascar Online
Madagascar Online was presented as a virtual world within the JumpStart universe, hosted through JumpStart.com. Players could enter a Madagascar-themed environment and take part in related quests and adventures. The product extended JumpStart’s existing online-world strategy rather than creating an entirely separate business line.
Madagascar Preschool Surf ’n Slide
The second launch was Madagascar Preschool Surf ’n Slide, a learning game announced for iOS and Android devices. Its title and marketing positioned it for preschool audiences, combining franchise characters with educational play.
These platform details are historical: they describe what JumpStart announced in October 2012. They should not be treated as confirmation that either product remains available, supported, or compatible with current devices in 2026.
The role of the 2009 virtual world
The DreamWorks announcement built on JumpStart’s earlier JumpStart 3D Virtual World, launched in 2009. That history matters because the Madagascar project was not simply a one-off movie tie-in. It fit an existing effort to create persistent, child-oriented online worlds that combined entertainment and learning.
GamesBeat placed the strategy in the broader children’s virtual-world market, where many competing services had struggled or shut down. That context is contemporary reporting rather than independently measured market data, but it helps explain why a recognizable film franchise could be valuable: it could give an educational platform a more immediate entertainment identity.
Financing was announced, but not quantified
JumpStart also announced that it had closed a new financing round involving Azure Capital Partners, TeleSoft Partners, and other investors. The participants were described as co-investors and value-added partners.
The announcement did not disclose the amount raised, valuation, security type, ownership consequences, or individual contributions. It is therefore not possible to characterize the financing as large or to infer that DreamWorks participated in it. The evidence supports only the narrower statement that a new round was closed with Azure, TeleSoft, and other investors involved.
Expansion beyond the initial announcement
Subsequent company announcements indicate that the relationship continued beyond the first Madagascar launch:
- In February 2013, JumpStart announced Madagascar: My ABCs for iPad, iPhone, Android, Amazon, and Nook platforms.
- In July 2013, JumpStart launched School of Dragons, an online game based on DreamWorks’ How to Train Your Dragon franchise.
- In December 2014, JumpStart announced a new website and a Penguins of Madagascar online world.
The later releases support the interpretation that the 2012 announcement introduced a continuing franchise-development program rather than a single promotional game. The chronology is documented in JumpStart’s 2013 announcement, its press-release archive, and the company’s 2014 website announcement.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why the rebrand mattered
The change from Knowledge Adventure to JumpStart was more than a cosmetic label change. It aligned the company’s identity with a shift in distribution and product design:
- From boxed software to digital access: the company was pursuing browser-based worlds, smartphones, and tablets rather than relying primarily on retail software packages.
- From standalone lessons to persistent adventures: the products were framed as worlds, quests, and games, with learning integrated into broader play.
- From educational brands alone to entertainment franchises: DreamWorks properties supplied familiar characters that could make the products more accessible to children and parents.
That strategy should not be confused with proof of educational effectiveness. The announcements describe the games as learning-focused products, but they do not provide independent studies, classroom evidence, curriculum accreditation, or comparative testing.
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What the announcement does—and does not—establish
The primary October 2012 announcement establishes that Knowledge Adventure rebranded as JumpStart, announced a strategic DreamWorks Animation alliance, launched or introduced the first Madagascar products, and closed a financing round with named investors.
It does not establish:
- that DreamWorks acquired or invested in JumpStart;
- that the companies formed a joint venture or jointly owned entity;
- the size or terms of the financing;
- the duration or exclusivity of the franchise licenses;
- that the games produced measurable learning gains or commercial success; or
- that the named products remain available in 2026.
JumpStart later promoted figures such as 52 million worldwide players and seven million monthly active users. Those figures should be attributed to the company’s 2014 release and treated as promotional, company-reported statistics rather than independently audited audience measurements.
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