Martin Frost

Founder, CMR Surgical ·

Largest round$600MCMR Surgical · 2021 Followers on X1.1K

About Martin

Martin Frost is a Co-Founder, Advisor, and Angel at CMR Surgical, where he also served as Business Chair. He previously led various technology and life science companies, including Sagentia. Frost has received multiple accolades, including a CBE in the 2020 Queen's Birthday Honours and the UK Disruptor of the Year in the EY 2019 Entrepreneur of the Year awards. He has also been recognized as Executive of the Year at the 2019 MedTech Insight awards and CEO of the Year at the 2018 Cambridge Independent Science and Technology Awards.

Strengths: founder archetype

Domain operatorTechnical builderRepeat founder

Domain operator 5

Technical builder 1

Repeat founder 1

Young outlier –

Capital allocator –

Quant / trader –

Researcher –

Community builder –

one sourced signal · hover a cell for it, click for the source

Why domain operator

Martin Frost has a deep background in technology and life sciences, having started and led multiple companies before CMR Surgical. He focused on building a product from scratch, scaling the business, and driving its global commercialization within the medical device sector.

The signals behind it 5

Prior to co-founding CMR Surgical in 2014, Martin was started and led numerous technology and life science companies including Harston-based technology consultancy Sagentia.Repeat founder · Domain operator
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He founded CMR Surgical in 2014 and swiftly scaled it into a globally recognised unicorn in the field of surgical robotics.Domain operator
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Martin Frost, the CEO who has led CMR Surgical from start-up to unicorn status in less than six years, is to stand down.Domain operator
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Martin said his skill-set had been utilised in building the company from scratch to what it is today: “It’s pretty hard to scale a business from nothing to a billion pounds!” he said.Technical builder · Domain operator
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Martin, who was CEO of the company until the end of 2019, helped to bring the innovative Versius surgical robot to hospitals within five years of helping to launch the company, driven by a vision of helping millions arouDomain operator
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PATH · 8 MILESTONES

Martin Frost | From startup CEO to robotics CBE

2019 → 2026·0phases·now

Every tag links its source.

Network

Backed by 5

SStrykerLed CMR Surgical's Series B+, 2026

AAlly Bridge GroupIn CMR Surgical's Series B+, 2023

CCambridge Innovation CapitalIn CMR Surgical's Series B+, 2023

SSoftBank Vision FundLed CMR Surgical's Series B+, 2021

LLGT groupLed CMR Surgical's Series B+, 2019

MFMartin Frost

Built and backed 1

CCMR SurgicalFounder

Background

Earlier jobs started and led numerous technology and life science companies including Harston-based technology consultancy Sagentia
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Role Business Chair, Co-Founder, Advisor and Angel. CBE.
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Award CBE in the 2020 Queen's Birthday Honours
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Award UK Disruptor of the Year in the EY 2019 Entrepreneur of the Year awards
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Award Executive of the Year at the 2019 MedTech Insight awards
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Award CEO of the Year at the 2018 Cambridge Independent Science and Technology Awards
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Timeline, line by line 8

CMR Surgical raised $400M (Series B+), led by Stryker.Oct 12, 2026
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CMR Surgical raised $165M (Series B+).Sep 20, 2023
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Joined the board of directors of Hypervision SurgicalJun 2, 2023
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CMR Surgical raised $600M (Series B+), led by SoftBank Vision Fund.Jun 28, 2021
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Made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2020 Queen’s Birthday HonoursOct 9, 2020
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CMR Surgical raised $242M (Series B+), led by LGT group.Sep 17, 2019
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Won the Disruptor award at the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019 London & South East ceremonyJul 9, 2019
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NHS England chairman Lord Prior officially opened the new global headquarters of CMR SurgicalMay 1, 2019
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In their words

“CMR Surgical’s rapid growth has given us the opportunity to develop a life-changing solution which we expect to change the take up of minimal access surgery worldwide. With these latest funds, we intend to start commercialising Versius in Europe, the USA and more broadly. "The overwhelming financial backing from our existing and new investors, with strong participation from management and employees, demonstrates their enthusiasm and support for CMR Surgical’s vision in making minimal access surg”On CMR Surgical's growth and vision after a funding round · Jun 4, 2018
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“We believe Versius represents a paradigm shift in surgery. The ground-breaking design, coupled with genuine affordability, means that patients everywhere have the potential to benefit from the advantages of minimal access surgery. Versius is a great example of British innovation and its launch represents a pivotal moment in the next chapter of surgery and patient care.”On the unveiling of the Versius robot · Sep 6, 2018
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“Our new global headquarters are an important symbol of the scale of our mission – to enable millions of people to get the right type of surgery. The Versius robot from CMR Surgical (9500951) “I thank Lord Prior for opening our offices. I believe our aim to make surgical robotics accessible for all is well-aligned with the purpose of the NHS. “As a company we are on an exciting journey and I look forward to the introduction of Versius to health systems worldwide.”On the opening of CMR Surgical's new headquarters · May 1, 2019
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“When you give birth to a company, lead it and it becomes big and successful, there is always a question of what’s next. “What’s next for CMR is multiple countries, multiple procedures, growing the business, scaling manufacturing and scaling the supply chain. “I love the business. I love the team, the people, the mission. But when you start a company you have to ask yourself at different stages whether you are the right CEO to lead the business forward in the next three or four years.”On stepping down as CEO of CMR Surgical · Dec 19, 2019
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“It is always tempting, personally, to say naturally you are the best person – and part of me wants to say that. But I think in all honesty the task that we face as a business isn’t just growing CMR to being the largest medical devices company in Cambridge. We’ve got to build and scale a seriously large business. “We’ve got the capability here of building a business that employs thousands. “That means the business becomes more about structure and process.”On the future growth of CMR Surgical and the need for a new CEO · Dec 19, 2019
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“It’s pretty hard to scale a business from nothing to a billion pounds!”On his skill-set in building CMR Surgical from scratch · Dec 19, 2019
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Interviews and coverage

Martin Frost: Why I’m standing down as CEO of CMR Surgical - and Per Vegard Nerseth is the right man to succeed meCambridge Independent · Dec 19, 2019
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Martin Frost CBE to add cutting edge to surgery tech firmbusinesscloud.co.uk · Jun 2, 2023
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Rising star CMR Surgical closes bumper $100m funding roundCambridge News · Jun 4, 2018
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CMR Surgical CEO Martin Frost wins Disruptor award at regional EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019Cambridge Independent · Jul 9, 2019
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CMR Surgical co-founder Martin Frost made a CBE in Queen’s Birthday Honours for bringing Versius robot to hospitalsCambridge Independent · Oct 9, 2020
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CMR Surgical recruits the next generation of talentCambridge Independent · Oct 25, 2018
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CMR Surgical unveils game-changing robotCambridge Independent · Sep 6, 2018
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NHS England chairman Lord Prior praises 'excellence' of medical robot company CMR Surgical as its HQ opensCambridge Independent · May 1, 2019
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How this is researched

Researched from public pages: press, interviews, the company's site and the founder's own posts. Each source logo links the page that states the row; anything we couldn't source is left out. The archetype is our reading of that record, from a fixed set so founders can be compared. Updated Oct 14, 2026.