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Carla Small, founder of Sprout Labs, joins The Female Founder to share how her son’s dyslexia inspired her to build an AI-driven platform delivering personalized reading instruction to children. After leading a business accelerator at Boston Children’s Hospital and overseeing ventures in pediatric innovation, Small turned her focus toward early literacy intervention—motivated by firsthand experience navigating the fragmented support system available to families.

Sprout Labs combines structured literacy methods with AI-powered personalization to provide daily, high-dosage tutoring tailored to each child’s learning profile. Small explains why early intervention between ages three and six is critical, how dyslexia affects nearly 20% of the population, and why many families don’t receive support until academic gaps widen. She also discusses scaling access through partnerships with specialists, offering scholarships to underserved communities, and using technology to lower the high cost barrier of traditional tutoring. Her approach reflects a broader vision: democratizing expert instruction and building a more equitable education system.

Key discussion areas:

• Turning personal adversity into a mission-driven edtech company
• Leading innovation at Boston Children’s Hospital before founding Sprout Labs
• Why early dyslexia intervention changes long-term outcomes
• Using AI to personalize structured literacy instruction
• Making high-dosage tutoring affordable and accessible
• Expanding into math, writing, and executive function support
• Partnering with specialists to scale impact nationally

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