Who Owns Mako SmartRobotics?

Mako Surgical Corp was founded in 2004 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, by a team including MIT-trained engineer Rony Abovitz, to develop robotic assistance for orthopaedic surgery. The company's name was a contraction of the founders' names.

Mako Surgical developed the robotic-arm assisted surgery (RIO) system for partial knee and total hip replacement, earning FDA clearance in 2008 and going public on NASDAQ the same year. The platform's key value was precision: robotic guidance enabled more accurate bone preparation and implant placement than manual surgery.

Early adoption was slow because of cost and surgeon skepticism, and Mako Surgical struggled commercially despite technical promise. Stryker's 2013 acquisition for $1.65 billion provided the distribution and capital needed to scale the technology.

Under Stryker, Mako expanded from partial knee to total knee (2017) and hip applications, becoming the fastest-growing segment of the orthopaedic business. The company invested in surgeon training, installation logistics, and the software ecosystem around the platform.

By the mid-2020s, Mako had become the leading orthopaedic robotic platform globally by installed base, with more than 1,000 systems in service and applications extending into spine, shoulder, and revision procedures. FY2025 results showed Mako continuing to drive Orthopaedics segment growth as hospitals adopted robotic surgery at accelerating rates.