Sprout Labs

Finally, AI-powered reading instruction designed for how kids with dyslexia and ADHD actually learn

Dyslexia affects 1 in 5 children; most also have ADHD. These families are desperate: expert instruction is scarce, expensive, and never tuned for attention issues. Sprout Labs combines deep domain expertise with proprietary AI tuned to the phoneme level, delivering Orton-Gillingham-based, gamified daily sessions designed for kids with learning differences. Frequent practice is 15x more effective—w

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Overview

Information on this page is provided by the innovator and has not been evaluated by HundrED.

Updated May 2026

Web presence

2024

Established

1K 2026

1

Countries

Parents

Target group

We hope to see a world where a child's ability to access expert reading instruction is no longer determined by their family's zip code or income. Research shows that 95% of children, even those with severe dyslexia, can learn to read with the right instruction. Yet today, only 30% of US fourth graders read at grade level. That gap between what is possible and what is happening is the problem Sprout Labs exists to close. The change we want to see is profound: every child with dyslexia or a learning difference gets the high-quality, high-frequency instruction they need to become a confident, capable reader, regardless of what they can afford or where they live. But we are reaching for something larger. Dyslexia is where we start, but Sprout Labs is building the infrastructure for personalized learning across the full spectrum of neurodivergence: dyscalculia, dysgraphia, executive function challenges, and beyond. Personalizing not just by diagnosis, but by the individual child, their attention span, their interests, the way their brain makes meaning. Because the goal isn't to fix how neurodivergent kids learn. It's to finally build instruction that meets them where they are. When every child accesses the instruction their brain needs, we unlock human potential at a scale the world has never seen. Children who once fell behind become confident learners, engaged students, and the scientists, artists, and leaders the world needs.

About the innovation

Why did you create this innovation?

At 4, my son Matthew loved learning. Yet when school started, while his friends learned to read, Matthew couldn't grasp it. He lost interest in school and confidence in himself — until we found the right instruction, and everything changed.
I'm Carla Small, CEO and co-founder. I led the Digital Health Accelerator at Boston Children's Hospital, then co-founded a dyslexia screening technology we scaled nationwide and sold to a major edtech publisher. But better intervention is what we need because quality, structured literacy instruction is scarce, expensive, and inaccessible for most.
20% of children struggle to learn to read. They are four times more likely to drop out, face twice the unemployment, and as Matthew showed me, carry real anxiety and loss of confidence along the way.
The solution exists. The science is settled. Kids need evidence-based, explicit, systematic instruction delivered at high frequency. Daily practice is 15x more effective. But today, only 2% of tutoring meets that bar. It's too expensive, too scarce, and impossible to access daily.
That's where Sprout Labs comes in. We combine deep domain expertise with proprietary AI tuned to the phoneme level, delivering daily, gamified, structured literacy instruction designed specifically for how kids with dyslexia and ADHD actually learn. Not a generic app. Not a workaround. Instruction that finally meets every child where they are: affordable and accessible to every family that needs it. The way Matthew deserved

What does your innovation look like in practice?

Children use Sprout's web-based app for 15–20 minute daily sessions that adapt in real time to their unique learning profile. Our curriculum is grounded in Orton-Gillingham methodology, the gold standard for dyslexia, and delivered through gamified, AI-personalized instruction that keeps kids with attention deficits engaged and progressing.
While Sprout Labs launches with dyslexia and ADHD, we're building the infrastructure for personalized learning across the full spectrum of neurodivergence: including dyscalculia/math, dysgraphia/writing, DLD/language, executive function challenges, and beyond. We are personalizing not just by diagnosis, but by the individual child: their attention span, their interests, and the way their brain makes meaning, because the goal isn't to fix how kids learn, it's to finally meet them where they are.

How has it been spreading?

Sprout Labs goes to market through a high-leverage referral engine built around Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs). With 40,000 private practice SLPs as the entry point into a broader network of 350,000 reading-adjacent practitioners, the strategy turns professionals into advocates, reached through Instagram, SLP communities, ambassadorships, and SLP Trade Associations. Early feedback has been incredibly positive with one SLP promoting our services in her newsletter to her peers and we saw 150 signups in 45 minutes.

If I want to try it, what should I do?

Reach out to us at info@sproutlabs.com