Montessorium wins $2m to develop Primary app for parents
A US education technology company has raised $1m of funding in a new investment round. Montessorium, which is based in South Dakota, creates apps for parents of primary-school children based on the Montessori style of teaching. The company's Primary app was launched last year and offers tips for undertaking activities with children. It has been downloaded 30,000 times and Montessorium wants to use the new money to develop it further. The latest round of funding comes from investors in the company's home state and brings the total raised to over $2m.

A Sioux Falls education technology startup nearly doubled its funding.

Montessorium, which creates educational apps for parents and children, raised $1 million in investments after a Series A financing round, the company announced Friday.

The investment, led by Bluestem Investment Fund 2016 LLC, brings Montessorium's total funding to $2.045 million.

"We're overjoyed by this show of support from investors in our home state," CEO Bobby George said.

The additional $1 million will help Montessorium take its apps to the "next level," said George, who co-founded the company and the Sioux Falls Baan Dek Montessori school with his wife, June George.

Last year, the company launched Primary, an app for parents. Primary has a wide range of activities, including tips for family activities such as camping ideas or ways to involve children in back-to-school shopping.

"In Primary ... we provide positive, timely resources that will improve the lives of the entire family," June George said. "We're helping parents help children."

Since launching last fall, Primary has been downloaded more than 30,000 times and featured on the App Store homepage.

The new round of funding also comes from South Dakota investors, including Falls Angel Fund, Two Bridges Capital, Kampeska Capital and SDSU/Brookings Angel Fund II.

"We're very excited about Montessorium's efforts," said Matthew Paulson of Falls Angel Fund. "For the first time, children, parents and classrooms have access to high-quality educational apps and also benefit from the Montessori teaching style approach at the same time."

Bobby George said one of the remarkable things about the latest financing round is having the ability to be a tech startup in Sioux Falls.

"You don't have to go to Silicon Valley to make something special," he said.