Stryker, the US medical technology group, will invest about $400m (£300m) in CMR Surgical, the Cambridge company that makes the Versius surgical robot. The alliance was announced on 12 October. It gives Stryker the exclusive right to sell Versius in the United States and an option to buy the rest of the company later.
What the deal includes
The money goes into preferred equity in CMR. Stryker also gets an exclusive option to acquire the remaining equity of CMR in future, on terms set out in the agreement, and becomes the exclusive US sales agent for the Versius portfolio. CMR keeps leading development and commercialisation in all other markets.
Andy Pierce, who runs Stryker’s MedSurg and Neurotechnology group, will join CMR’s board, The Robot Report says. He described soft-tissue robotics as “a high-growth adjacency” for Stryker. CMR’s chief executive, Massimiliano Colella, called the deal “a significant milestone for CMR and a strong endorsement of the technology”.
The announcement says the transaction is “subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions”. It does not give the price or timing of the buy option, the size of the stake Stryker gets, or a valuation, and Medical Device Network says it asked Stryker about the stake.
What is Versius?
Versius is a surgical robot designed for soft-tissue operations such as general, colorectal, urological, gynaecological and thoracic surgery. CMR’s second-generation system, Versius Plus, is modular and compact, and the company says it does not need a dedicated operating theatre.
Versius received European approval in 2019, according to Medical Device Network. In December 2025, Versius Plus won US FDA clearance for gallbladder removal, and CMR has filed for clearance in benign gynaecology, which The Robot Report says is still pending. CMR says Versius is used in more than 30 countries and about 45,000 cases, and its website says the system is approved for use across Europe, Australia and Brazil. These figures come from the company and have not been verified independently.
Why it matters
Robotic surgery in the US is dominated by Intuitive’s da Vinci system. GlobalData figures quoted by Medical Device Network put Intuitive at 48.8% of the US robotic surgical systems market in 2025 and Stryker at 19.5%, while in orthopaedic robots Stryker holds 75.5%. For Stryker, the deal is a way into soft-tissue surgery without building its own robot from scratch. For CMR, it brings sales reach in the US, where it is a relatively new entrant.
For the UK, it is a significant vote of confidence in a Cambridge company. Andrew Williamson of Cambridge Innovation Capital, CMR’s largest UK investor, called it a “UK manufacturing and technology success story”.
What we don’t know
The buy option is not yet exercised, and nothing says when or at what price it could be. The deal needs regulatory approvals before it closes. We have found no independent assessment of how Versius compares with rival robots in outcomes or cost.
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