{"id":406499,"date":"2026-09-21T20:06:17","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T20:06:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/406499\/"},"modified":"2026-09-21T20:06:17","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T20:06:17","slug":"gosprout-creator-of-apprenticeship-platform-raises-1-2m-to-boost-opportunities-for-training-economic-mobility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/406499\/","title":{"rendered":"GoSprout, creator of apprenticeship platform, raises $1.2M to boost opportunities for training, economic mobility"},"content":{"rendered":"

Apprenticeships are among the oldest forms of job training in the world, but the practice has often been limited in the US because of burdensome paperwork. That\u2019s where GoSprout<\/a> comes in.<\/p>\n

The software startup from Miami has developed a platform that simplifies documentation for employers, apprentices and funders, boosting compliance and opening up millions more dollars in support for the training. Its results are multiplying fast.<\/p>\n

Not only has GoSprout digitized more than 500,000 training records to date, it recently raised $1.2 million to grow operations. It\u2019s also been chosen to run the tech portion of a new three-year, nationwide Jobs for The Future program backed by Google. And its clients \u2013 including United Airlines \u2013 now use its platform even outside the US, said co-founder and CEO Carlos Vazquez [pictued above].<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, GoSprout this April was awarded a coveted fellowship from the Bravo Family Foundation for entrepreneurs of Puerto Rican heritage, complete with mentoring from founders and investors in the Thoma Bravo network.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a world changing so much, apprenticeships have momentum. They\u2019re the last frontier of talent development,\u201d Vazquez said. \u201cOur goal is to build the infrastructure that makes apprenticeships easier to create, simpler to scale, and accessible to millions more people. We\u2019re working to expand opportunities to high-paying, debt-free career pathways and to increase economic mobility.\u201d<\/p>\n

Helping underrepresented minorities find well-paid jobs<\/p>\n

The training initiative is personal for Vazquez, a New York-Puerto Rican from the South Bronx who is the first in his family to graduate from college. He\u2019s been working for decades to help underrepresented minorities succeed in school and in tech.<\/p>\n

Vazquez first mentored high school and college students through programs in New York, then earned a master\u2019s degree in education, and taught in several states. After launching the Year Up program in Miami, he founded nonprofit Miami EdTech<\/a> in 2017 to boost skills training in South Florida.<\/p>\n

Soon, Vazquez realized that millions of dollars in funding for apprenticeship programs in the US was going unused because of problems with compliance. Documenting the training was so complex that many employers simply opted not to seek cash from federal, state and county governments and other funders.<\/p>\n

\u2713<\/p>\n

Check your inbox for a confirmation email.<\/p>\n

Vazquez teamed up with software developer Roger Rodriguez, who he\u2019d met in Miami. The two launched their cloud-based platform in 2023, and since then, have helped employers mobilize millions of dollars for job training, he said.<\/p>\n

Miami-Dade Public Schools among GoSprout\u2019s clients<\/p>\n

Today, GoSprout serves clients as diverse as Amgen pharmaceuticals, Duncan Aviation and University of Virginia, and it\u2019s partnering with employment agency CareerSource South Florida. The venture supports training in fields from aviation mechanics to advanced manufacturing and data marketing, said the CEO.<\/p>\n

Miami-Dade Public Schools, the third largest school district in the US, now uses GoSprout for students in some dozen job-training programs, including air-conditioning mechanic and pharmacy technician. The app makes the tracking of job-training hours easy, replacing a system that had been manual, time-consuming and inconsistent, said Maria Gutierrez, executive director of the district\u2019s Office of Postsecondary Career and Technical Education.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a marriage made in heaven,\u201d said Gutierrez of the GoSprout partnership with the programs she oversees. She\u2019s hopeful that three-way cooperation with CareerSource South Florida to train students, track their training hours, and help them find jobs after graduation can serve as a model nationwide.<\/p>\n

Indeed, growing partnerships should help push GoSprout\u2019s revenue above $1 million this year, Vazquez said. The company operates on a Software-as-a-Service model, with customers typically paying a subscription based on the number of learners they support.<\/p>\n

An initial $1.2 million to grow and seeking more<\/p>\n

To expand, GoSprout raised an initial $1.2 million this summer from investors including Education Innovation Ventures of Los Angeles, Robin Hood of New York and LearnLaunch Fund + Accelerator of Boston, Vazquez said. Backing also came from the Bravo Family Foundation named for Miami-based tech financier Orlando Bravo, described by Forbes magazine as Puerto Rico\u2019s first billionaire.<\/p>\n

Today, GoSprout employs about a dozen people, about half in Miami and some in Colombia, where co-founder Rodriguez was born. Vazquez says he wants to grow the company to support 1 million apprentices, building a continuum that connects learners from high school into a well-paid career, \u201crather than treating education and work as separate chapters.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Carlos Vasquez, founder and CEO of GoSprout, helps a student. <\/p>\n

READ MORE IN REFRESH MIAMI:<\/p>\n

\"Doreen<\/a> <\/p>\n

Doreen Hemlock is a journalist who worked years with the South Florida SunSentinel newspaper and before that, in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Peru, Venezuela and Puerto Rico. She holds an MBA from Columbia University, thanks in part to a Knight-Bagehot fellowship. Reach her at doreenhemlock@gmail.com.<\/p>\n

\"Doreen<\/a>Latest posts by Doreen Hemlock (see all<\/a>) \t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Apprenticeships are among the oldest forms of job training in the world, but the practice has often been…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":406500,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-406499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=406499"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406499\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/406500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=406499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=406499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=406499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}