Sept. 13, 2018

Eight years after launching, Sioux Falls-based Montessorium has been acquired.

California-based Higher Ground Education Inc. bought the educational app company, which creates activities and apps for kids and parents.

Bob and June George, who also own Baan Dek Montessori school in Sioux Falls, started Montessorium in 2010. They have created seven award-winning apps for children, and many have been featured by Apple at product launches and in marketing campaigns.

The late Steve Jobs even reached out to the couple in the company’s early stages to encourage them to keep developing the company.

Montessorium will stay in Sioux Falls.

“We’re over the moon to be able to share this news,” said Bobby George, CEO at Montessorium, “It’s not every day that you find total mission alignment around a core set of ideals by which your organizations share a passion. Together with their amazing team, we’re extremely excited by what the future holds.”

Higher Ground’s mission is to modernize and mainstream Montessori, and the story of Montessorium is consistent with that focus, CEO Ray Girn said.

“It’s the story of people who were equally dedicated to authentic, high-quality Montessori and to pushing the boundaries of Montessori with experimentation, change, and technology — often in the face of resistance,” he said.

The acquisition puts Montessorium in pretty rarefied company in the Sioux Falls tech-startup scene.

Other homegrown businesses that have led to acquisition include DocuTap, which was acquired by Warburg Pincus in 2016, and Zuercher Technologies, which was acquired by TriTech in 2015. Both of those companies also kept a significant presence in Sioux Falls.

“With persistence, hard work and determination, anything is possible,” George said. “You don’t need to be living in Silicon Valley to participate in the conversation. Great things can happen right here, in Sioux Falls, S.D.”

The company raised significant capital in South Dakota, including $1 million earlier this year. That financing round was led by Bluestem Investment Fund 2016 LLC, and includes funding from four South Dakota angel funds: Falls Angel Fund LLC; Two Bridges Capital LLC; Kampeska Capital LLC; and SDSU/Brookings Angel Fund II LLC.

This million-dollar capital raise happened with all S.D. funds