Medtronic will make an approximately $700 million strategic investment in Hong Kong-based Cornerstone Robotics and add the Chinese company's Sentire surgical system to its distribution portfolio in select markets outside the United States, the two companies said in a joint September 1 announcement.
A two-platform robotic-assisted surgery portfolio
The deal makes Medtronic the only major medtech supplier with two multi-port soft-tissue robotic platforms in its bag: its own Hugo RAS system, which won U.S. FDA clearance within the last year, and the CE-marked Sentire dual-console platform developed entirely in-house by Cornerstone Robotics. Medtronic will distribute Sentire alongside Hugo in markets where Sentire is already approved, giving surgeons and hospitals a choice between the two consoles rather than tying every operating room to one architecture.
Matt Anderson, Medtronic's senior vice president and president of Surgical, said the addition of Sentire lets the company "offer this two-platform portfolio combined with our surgical ecosystem — giving customers more access, more choice, and flexible solutions." Global adoption of robotic-assisted surgery is still in the single digits by procedure share, leaving a runway that Medtronic has been chasing since it bought Hugo predecessor Mazor Robotics in 2018.
Hugo momentum meets a fully-integrated challenger
Medtronic said Hugo is now installed in more than 35 countries across six continents, with procedure growth running at more than twice the pace of the wider robotic surgery market, and total Hugo procedures expected to exceed 50,000 globally by the end of the company's fiscal year. Software upgrades, real-time AI across Touch Surgery, integrated stapling, and expanded instrumentation continue to roll into the platform.
Cornerstone Robotics, founded by Professor Kwok Wai Samuel Au in Hong Kong, brings full-stack in-house R&D — hardware, control software, imaging, and energy platforms all designed under one roof — and a 30,000-square-meter manufacturing facility in mainland China. The Sentire system received China NMPA approval in 2024, then picked up CE Mark in Europe and Health Sciences Authority approval in Singapore in May 2026, covering general, gynecologic, thoracic, and urologic minimally invasive procedures.
Distribution, not consolidation
The $700 million check is a strategic investment plus distribution rights, not an acquisition — Cornerstone Robotics keeps its brand, its R&D independence, and its runway toward broader international approvals. Kirkland & Ellis and Global Law Office advised Cornerstone; Morgan Stanley advised Medtronic, with Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton as lead legal counsel.
The move sharpens the contest between Medtronic and market leader Intuitive Surgical, whose da Vinci franchise still owns the lion's share of installed soft-tissue robots. It also signals that the next phase of the surgical robotics land grab will be fought on choice and geography as much as on console technology — Medtronic's Hugo U.S. clearance, Touch Surgery AI rollout, and Intuitive's da Vinci 5 updates have already made 2026 the most competitive year for robotic surgery in a decade.
Reporting based on coverage from Medtronic News and Cornerstone Robotics press releases (Sept. 1, 2026).