How Sprout Labs is Rethinking How Kids Learn to Read

Carla Small founded Sprout Labs, Inc., an education technology company that has been named the Top Honoree in the Disruptors category of the 2025 CO—100. — Sprout Labs, Inc.

Company Name: Sprout Labs, Inc.

Location: Needham, Massachusetts

Year Founded: 2019

Website: sproutlabs.com

Sprout Labs, Inc., an education technology company based in Needham, Massachusetts, has been named a 2025 CO—100 Top Honoree in the Disruptors category. Founded in 2019 by CEO Carla Small, the company is redefining how families navigate reading challenges by combining voice AI, structured literacy, and expert human support into one seamless experience.

Reimagining reading support for children and families

Small’s vision for Sprout Labs stemmed from both professional and personal experience. At Boston Children’s Hospital, she led the Innovation and Digital Health Accelerator, a program that helps clinicians and researchers turn promising ideas into validated products and services. At home, as the mother of a child with dyslexia who wasn’t diagnosed until the 2nd grade, she saw how confusing and isolating the journey can feel for families.

That lens shaped Sprout Labs’ model: a single path from assessment to day-to-day instruction and support.

“There is a national reading crisis in this country. 70% of 4th graders are not reading on grade level.” said Small. “This is a home-based support system for a family. It’s providing everything that a child and a family [need] to make sure that child is reading on track.”

Sprout Labs starts with an award-winning voice-AI assessment that flags dyslexia risk and pinpoints precise skill gaps in real time, then turns those insights into a personalized reading roadmap for each child and family. From there, a licensed reading specialist delivers science-based, game-driven instruction and practical, time-sensitive guidance for parents.

“We were co-founded by a neuroscientist. Everything we do is science-based,” Small said. “We’re using the best science of reading, learning, and the best technology to help a child learn to read.”

Humans and technology, working in tandem

When children are flagged as having reading difficulties, parents are often expected to become reading experts overnight or otherwise seek out tutors, tools, and other interventions. Sprout Labs integrates the most effective interventions into one coordinated system for families: AI that listens to children read aloud, adapts instruction instantly, and generates progress reports, paired with seasoned professionals who coach both the child and the parent.

As Small explained, specialists are trained in the Orton-Gillingham method, a structured, multisensory approach to reading instruction. That expertise complements the company’s proprietary voice-AI technology, which powers assessment tools and game-based learning applications.

For parents, this means less trial and error and more confidence that every minute invested is moving the child forward.

Outcomes that matter — and a path to wider access

With only 33% of fourth graders across the U.S. reading at or above grade level as of 2022, there is a great and urgent need for families to support their child’s reading development early, when instruction and intervention is most effective.

The company reports many children gaining 20 to 40 percentile points in foundational skills within three to six months, and parents can receive immediate, clear feedback rather than waiting months or longer for results.

Crucially, the platform is accessible nationwide and designed for busy families, whether they have an hour at bedtime or five minutes in a car line. It pairs high-quality instruction with flexible scheduling and a single point of accountability, so parents aren’t stitching together apps, assessments, and ad-hoc tutoring on their own.

“With Sprout Labs, the person that’s teaching your child how to read is also your personal navigational aid,” Small explained. “They’re your partner for the whole family.”

Looking ahead, the team is investing in Generative and Agentic AI to power reading support that can offer real-time conversational assistance during practice and on-demand guidance for parents.

“The student-to-Reading Specialist ratio in the US is 1:2,600. Advanced technology can help us scale the expertise, support, and instruction that families need to ensure reading success. We're prioritizing this investment because it directly impacts our core mission: supporting parents on the learn-to-read journey, and ensuring all children learn to read,” said Small.

CO— aims to bring you inspiration from leading respected experts. However, before making any business decision, you should consult a professional who can advise you based on your individual situation.

CO—is committed to helping you start, run and grow your small business. Learn more about the benefits of small business membership in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, here.