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Vicarious Surgical

Surgical robotics / medtechUSA
New to Unitard
πŸ’€ Dead / Bankrupt
PeakΒ $1.1 BillionToday
~-100%
from peak
  1. πŸ¦„
    Became a unicorn
    Sep 2021
  2. πŸ“ˆ
    Peak valuation
    $1.1 Billion ’21
  3. πŸ’”
    Became a Unitard
    Jul 2026
  4. πŸ’Έ
    Last valuation
    Wiped out
Capital raised
$280M
Total raised
$63.7K/day
Raised per day

Total raised averaged per day over approximately 12.0 years from founding to bankruptcy or shutdown. This is not measured cash burn. Methodology

Funding: SEC filings (SPAC + $115M PIPE, ~$280M)
Current status
Stockholders approved an assignment for the benefit of creditors and dissolution (Jul 21, 2026); delisted to OTC earlier in 2026

The rise & fall

6 moments Β· 2014–2026

The key moments.

2014
Founded in Waltham, Massachusetts
Adam Sachs and Sammy Khalifa start Vicarious to build a VR-controlled single-incision surgical robot.
BusinessWire
Sep 15 ’21
Lists via SPAC at a ~$1.1B value$1.1B
A merger with D8 Holdings takes Vicarious public (NYSE: RBOT); shares trade near $1.3B that December.
BusinessWire
2023
FDA timeline keeps slipping
Repeated design changes push the de novo submission back by years while cash runs down.
MedTech Dive
Jul 21 ’26
Stockholders vote to dissolve
Holders approve an assignment for the benefit of creditors; common holders expect no payout.
SEC 8-K
$1.1Bof peak value erased Β· 12 years

How it happened

Vicarious Surgical, founded in Waltham, Massachusetts in 2014 by Adam Sachs and Sammy Khalifa and backed by Bill Gates's Gates Frontier and Khosla Ventures, was developing a single-incision surgical robot controlled through a virtual-reality headset.

It went public via a SPAC merger with D8 Holdings in September 2021 at about a $1.1B value, and traded near $1.3B that December. The robot stayed pre-revenue: repeated design changes pushed its FDA timeline out by years while cash ran down and the stock fell to pennies and off the NYSE. In July 2026 shareholders approved an assignment for the benefit of creditors and dissolution, ending the company with no expected payout to common holders.

Glassdoor reviews repeatedly faulted inexperienced leadership and poor, ever-changing communication, and by 2023 and 2024 some reviewers openly doubted the robot's technology and predicted the company would fail.

Employee accounts paraphrase anonymous, unverified reviews posted publicly on Glassdoor β†—. See our methodology.

Source: BusinessWire: SPAC merger with D8 Holdings Corp announced Apr 2021 at a ~$1.0-1.1B enterprise value (~$1.5B equity, $115M PIPE), listed as RBOT on Sep 15, 2021; StockAnalysis shows a ~$1.26B market capitalization at Dec 31, 2021. SEC 8-K (special meeting Jul 21, 2026) and DEF 14A (Jun 2026): stockholders approved an assignment for the benefit of creditors (assignee Resolution Financial Advisors) and dissolution, with the board stating common holders were unlikely to receive any distribution; MedTech Dive coverage. Backed by Bill Gates's Gates Frontier and Khosla Ventures. Founded 2014 by Adam Sachs and Sammy Khalifa.

Where they went

  • Adam Sachs
    co-founder & CEO
    Paramedic at Cataldo Ambulance Service Inc.
    LinkedIn β†—
  • Sammy Khalifa
    co-founder & CTO
    Not on record

Current roles as self-reported on LinkedIn, retrieved 2026-10-13. See our methodology.

Disclosed investors (17)

Historical funding participation; lists may be incomplete and do not establish current ownership or investor losses.

* Lead in a funding round Β· Crunchbase β†— Β· 2026-10-13 Β· Methodology Β· Leaderboard

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