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Rosota

Category: Robotics / Embodied AI

South Korean AI-native surgical robotics startup building proprietary surgical data pipeline and autonomous surgical assistant robots, spun off from Seoul National University Hospital's MediSC Lab. Rosota was founded in 2026. The company is led by Yechan Seo (서예찬). Based in Seoul, South Korea. Team size: 2-10. Total funding raised: $965K. Latest round: Seed. Key investors include Futureplay (lead), Schmidt, ZDVC.

Founded
2026
Headquarters
Seoul, South Korea
Team size
2-10
Total funding
$965K

Value proposition

AI-native surgical robots that understand and learn from surgical situations autonomously, supporting surgeon judgment in real time — moving beyond teleoperation (Da Vinci model) to data-driven autonomous surgical assistance.

Products and solutions

ALES (Affordable Laparoscopic End-2-End Suturing Robot) — low-cost surgical robotics platform for Physical AI research with high-frequency teleoperation control and AI-ready infrastructure, AI-native surgical robots (in development), Proprietary surgical data pipeline for AI model training

Unique value

Proprietary surgical data pipeline that collects, anonymizes, and processes real-time video, instrument movement, and sensor data from surgeries to train AI models — solving the critical bottleneck of quality surgical data for AI training.

Target customer

Hospitals and surgical centers; surgeons seeking AI-assisted surgical capabilities; clinical research institutions

Industries served

Healthcare / Medical Robotics, Surgical AI, Physical AI

Technology advantage

End-to-end integrated system from surgical data collection (video, instrument movement, sensor data) through anonymization to AI model training and robotic implementation; spin-off from SNUH MediSC Lab with direct clinical access; team combines medical expertise (SNU Medical School) with robotics engineering (SNU Mechanical Engineering); AI-native architecture vs. teleoperation incumbents

How they differentiate

Unlike incumbents (Intuitive Surgical's Da Vinci, Medtronic) that rely on teleoperation where surgeons directly control robotic arms, Rosota is building AI-native surgical robots that autonomously understand surgical scenes, learn from data, and augment surgeon capabilities in real time. Their proprietary data pipeline from OR to AI training is a key differentiator.

Main competitors

Intuitive Surgical (Da Vinci), Medtronic (Hugo), CMR Surgical (Versius)

Key partnerships

Seoul National University Hospital MediSC Lab (spin-off origin & ongoing collaboration), AMICUS (booth support at Automation World 2026), Selected for Korea Institute of Startup & Entrepreneurship Development (KISED) Deep-Tech Startup Package Program

Major milestones

Founded May 2026 as spin-off from SNUH MediSC Lab, Raised $965K seed round (Jul 2026), Demonstrated ALES (Affordable Laparoscopic End-2-End Suturing Robot) at Automation World 2026 (Mar 2026), Held first Rosota symposium R:rise (Jan 2026), Selected for KISED Deep-Tech Startup Package Program

Market positioning

Early-stage Korean sovereign player in the global surgical robotics market, positioning as a data-driven AI-native alternative to teleoperation-dominant incumbents (Da Vinci, Medtronic, J&J). Targeting the gap where surgical automation is just beginning.

Geographic focus

South Korea (initial); global market long-term

About Yechan Seo (서예찬)

Medical student at Seoul National University College of Medicine; Researcher at Seoul National University Hospital MediSC Lab (2021-Present); AI Research Scientist at AIRS Medical (2022); Founder of Laplacian (2024); B.S. candidate at Seoul National University; Gyeonggi Science High School valedictorian; International Mathematical Modeling Challenge (IMMC) 2019 national team; SNU College of Medicine Future Talent Award (2024)

Official website: