Sproutel

What Sproutel does

Sproutel, now operating as Empath Labs Inc., is a Providence, Rhode Island-based private company founded in 2012 that designs interactive companion products for children with chronic illnesses. Its portfolio includes My Special Aflac Duck (an animatronic social robot for pediatric cancer and sickle cell patients), Rufus, the Bear with Diabetes (an AR-enabled companion for type 1 diabetes children), Purrble Companion (a socially assistive robot for emotion regulation), and the Clinical Companions program (plush-based tools for pediatric clinical trial adherence and procedure preparation). Technology centers on embodied interaction design, animatronics, augmented reality, and socially assistive robotics, with outcomes validated through peer-reviewed clinical research published in journals such as Pediatric Blood & Cancer.

The company operates a B2B, institutionally-oriented business model, distributing programs through enterprise partnerships with major healthcare organizations, insurance companies (notably Aflac as a flagship partner), nonprofit advocacy groups (Breakthrough T1D, Committee for Children), and clinical trial sponsors. With a headcount of 1-10 employees, Sproutel/Empath Labs has scaled to reach approximately 550 US hospitals and 188,000 families cumulatively over 14 years, monetizing through licensing and program arrangements rather than direct-to-consumer retail, except for Purrble which sells via its own e-commerce storefront. In 2024 the company rebranded from Sproutel to Empath Labs Inc., positioning itself as a broader pediatric patient engagement platform rather than a toy maker.

Name

Sproutel

Legal name

Empath Labs Inc.

Website

https://sproutel.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Sproutel (now Empath Labs Inc.) designs interactive companion products and pediatric patient engagement programs for children with chronic illnesses, serving hospitals, insurance providers, and clinical trial sponsors across 550 US institutions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Pediatric Patient Engagement Products

NAICS

Child and Youth Services (62411), Individual and Family Services (6241), Hobby, Toy, and Game Retailers (459120)

SIC

Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090), Dolls & Stuffed Toys (3942)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYHLACANAH

Therapeutic Companion Apps (Drug-Device-Digital Combination)

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Digital Health & Health IT/Digital Therapeutics (DTx) & Software as a Medical Device (SaMD)

SECONDARYHLACAEAJ

Adherence, Reminders & Engagement Automation (Medication/Follow-up)

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Digital Health & Health IT/Patient Engagement, CRM & Experience Platforms

SECONDARYHDAAAIAC

Healthcare & Assistive Robotics

Hardware, Technology & Telecom/Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning/Robotics & Autonomous Systems

SECONDARYEDAFAKAG

Executive Functioning & Behavioral Support Tools (ADHD, SEL/Behavior Tracking, Routines)

Education/Education Technology (EdTech) & Digital Learning/Accessibility, Assistive Technology & Special Needs EdTech

Keywords

• Pediatric patient engagement
• Therapeutic companion toys
• Clinical trial programs
• Social emotional learning
• Healthcare engagement products

Headquarters

HQ city

Providence

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Pediatric Patient Engagement Programs: The company designs and implements pediatric patient engagement programs for healthcare providers, clinical trials, and insurance partners. Revenue appears to come from program licensing and distribution arrangements with institutional partners rather than direct consumer sales.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Sproutel (now Empath Labs Inc.) designs and manufactures pediatric patient engagement companion products—including AR-enabled plush toys, animatronic social robots, and clinical companion programs—for children with chronic illnesses such as type 1 diabetes, cancer, and sickle cell disease. The products help patients simulate procedures, build emotional readiness, and reduce distress, pain, and nausea during medical care, and are distributed primarily through institutional partnerships with hospitals, insurance companies, and clinical trial sponsors.

Product overview

Sproutel (now Empath Labs) offers a portfolio of pediatric patient engagement products centered on Clinical Companions—a suite of programs designed to drive adherence and retention for children and teens in clinical trials. The product line includes three named offerings: Rufus, the Bear with Diabetes® (an AR-enabled companion for children with type 1 diabetes), My Special Aflac Duck® (a social robot for children with cancer and sickle cell disease), and Purrble® Companion (a social-emotional learning toy). These products work together to support patients through their care journey by providing emotional readiness tools, procedure simulation, and distress reduction during medical visits.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• My Special Aflac Duck: A social robot for children with cancer and sickle cell disease shown to reduce distress, pain, and nausea during inpatient clinic visits.
• Purrble Companion
• Rufus the Bear with Diabetes
• Clinical Companions

Products and services

• Clinical Companions Pediatric patient engagement programs that include plush companions helping patients simulate procedures, build emotional readiness, and feel more confident; designed to drive adherence and retention for children and teens in clinical trials.
• Rufus, the Bear with Diabetes® An AR-enabled best friend for children with type 1 diabetes that reduces stress from disease-related conversations at home. Distributed through partnership with Breakthrough T1D.
• My Special Aflac Duck® A social robot (animatronic duck) for children with cancer and sickle cell disease, shown in clinical studies to reduce distress, pain, and nausea during inpatient clinic visits. Distributed through Aflac insurance partnerships.
• Purrble® Companion A commercially available toy based on social-emotional learning that helps people find calm through intimate-space socially assistive robotics. Sold directly to consumers via purrble.com.

Quantifiable outcome

• 188,000 families use Sproutel's programs
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• AflaccoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAflac partnered with Sproutel to develop My Special Aflac Duck, an AR-enabled companion for children with cancer. Aflac provides the duck to pediatric cancer patients covered by their insurance. This is a flagship partnership that has scaled to hundreds of hospitals.
• Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBreakthrough T1D partnered with Sproutel to create Rufus, the Bear with Diabetes, a companion designed to reduce stress from disease-related conversations at home for children with type 1 diabetes. Breakthrough T1D holds the trademark for Rufus.
• Committee for ChildrenminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommittee for Children partnered with Sproutel to create Purrble, a commercially available companion based on social-emotional learning that helps people find calm. Committee for Children holds the Purrble trademark.
• 550 US HospitalscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor550 hospitals in the US leverage Sproutel's programs including Clinical Companions, My Special Aflac Duck, and Rufus the Bear with Diabetes to support pediatric patients through their care journeys.
• Clinical Trial SponsorscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPharmaceutical companies and clinical research organizations partner with Sproutel to implement Clinical Companions programs that drive adherence and retention in pediatric clinical trials.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Embodied: Maker of Moxie, a companion robot for children focused on social-emotional development. Closely comparable to Sproutel in combining a physical companion robot with child-focused emotional and developmental outcomes.
• Teddy the Guardian: Smart plush companion products used in pediatric hospitals to reduce anxiety and educate children about medical procedures. Directly comparable to Sproutel's Clinical Companions and My Special Aflac Duck approach.
• Catalia Health: Developer of Mabu, a personal health companion robot that engages patients in daily care routines. Comparable to Sproutel's social robot approach for driving adherence and patient engagement.

Emerging players

• Intuition Robotics: Creator of ElliQ, an AI-driven companion robot aimed at older adults for daily engagement and wellness. Adjacent to Sproutel in socially-assistive robotics for vulnerable populations, though serving an older demographic.
• Care.coach: Avatar-based conversational companion for chronic care and behavioral health populations, focused on engagement and adherence. Comparable technology approach to Sproutel's social robot companions in healthcare settings.
• Limbic: Digital mental health and behavioral support platform with CE-marked therapeutic interventions. Overlaps with Sproutel in providing technology-driven emotional and behavioral support for vulnerable populations.
• Hatch (Hatch Baby): Consumer-focused connected family products (sleep, rest, baby care). Tangentially comparable to Sproutel's Purrble in combining emotional/calming design with connected hardware for families and children.
• RxBandz: Developer of MyCelsius, a wearable thermoregulation patch for women's health. Adjacent medical device peer that combines patient-friendly hardware with clinical workflows.

Broad incumbents

• Akili Interactive: Pure-software digital therapeutics company (EndeavorRx) for pediatric ADHD and cognitive conditions. Broad incumbent in pediatric digital therapeutics; competes with Sproutel for health system and payer mindshare on engagement tools.

Others

• Wellbe (Bivarus): Patient engagement and experience platform used by hospitals. Comparable to Sproutel's Clinical Companions on the engagement/CRM layer that hospitals deploy for pediatric patients.

Market position

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/sproutel
• Facebookfacebook.com/Sproutel
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sproutel

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds5 records

Investors3 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sproutel