Synektik is riding Poland’s medical robotics wave

A supplier of, among other things, surgical robots has increased its value tenfold in just over three years. The founders of Marvipol have already recouped more than PLN 600m (EUR 140m), but the story is far from over. Synektik is expanding sales outside Poland and is ready for major acquisitions and investments worth around PLN 200m (EUR 47m).

The Polish stock market needs more success stories of this scale. In December 2017, Mariusz Książek, CEO, founder and majority shareholder of Marvipol Development, bought more than 26% of Synektik’s shares, now known among other things as the exclusive distributor of da Vinci surgical robots. He paid nearly PLN 40m (EUR 9.3m).

He has already achieved a return of several times his original investment – and the upside may not be over yet.

How to turn PLN 40m into more than PLN 700m

The founder of Marvipol exited Synektik’s shareholder base in June 2026. He received around PLN 605m (EUR 141m) for all his shares (having sold part of the stake a year earlier). He also collected several tens of millions of złoty in dividends. He still holds a stake worth around PLN 100m (EUR 23m) in Syn2Bio, a biotechnology company spun off from Synektik and listed separately on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

Mariusz Książek bought out financial investors at a price of around PLN 18 per share. A month ago, institutional investors bought him out, paying PLN 300 per share. Since then, Synektik’s share price has risen to around PLN 370, implying a market valuation close to PLN 3.2bn (EUR 745m).

The rally has been driven, among other factors, by the company’s first contract in the Baltic states to supply a da Vinci surgical robot – specifically to a hospital in Kaunas, Lithuania.

“The story of Mariusz Książek’s highly successful investment in our shares is part of a broader story of the company’s spectacular business success in recent years. I am convinced that the best is still ahead of us. At the current valuation, growth measured in thousands of percent will probably no longer be possible, but we undoubtedly have significant development potential,” says Dariusz Korecki, vice president of Synektik.

Mariusz Książek’s success confirms Synektik’s potential

In the 2017 financial year (which unusually ran until September 2018), Synektik generated PLN 105m (EUR 24.4m) in revenue, PLN 20m (EUR 4.7m) in EBITDA and PLN 13m (EUR 3m) in net profit. Seven years later – in the now standard 12-month 2024/2025 financial year – those figures had risen to PLN 682m (EUR 159m), PLN 178m (EUR 41.4m) and PLN 103m (EUR 24m) respectively. The company’s valuation therefore rose in line with its financial performance.

“Given the growth potential within our business, our ability to increase market share in existing markets, expand internationally and diversify our product offering, we remain a highly attractive company over the long term. We believe annual sales growth of around 20–30% remains within our reach in the coming years. We can maintain this pace while keeping profitability at a similar level, thanks to rising operational efficiency and the expansion of our portfolio with increasingly advanced technological solutions,” says Dariusz Korecki.

Mariusz Książek remained an active member of the supervisory board, supporting the company’s long-term strategy. His exit will not affect Synektik’s chosen direction or day-to-day operations. It is nevertheless significant for several reasons.

In the June transaction, worth around PLN 413m (EUR 96m), investors paid several percent below the prevailing market price for the shares. This confirms the value of the business, as a typical “premium” in such transactions is usually higher. The valuation has also benefited from a larger free float, increasing the company’s weighting in stock market indices. In addition, some of the shares were acquired by foreign, long-term investors.

“We are systematically expanding our international operations and are partners with a number of global healthcare companies. Greater involvement from foreign investors will certainly have a positive impact on how we are perceived and on our global recognition,” explains Dariusz Korecki.

The company stresses that the success of Mariusz Książek’s share offering confirms investor appetite for increasing their holdings in Synektik. However, it does not plan to use this opportunity to raise capital through a new share issue.

“After paying a record dividend [PLN 10.75 per share, or PLN 91.7m (EUR 21.3m) — ed.] and providing Syn2Bio with funds for further development, we still have substantial financial reserves and minimal debt. Moreover, our business model generates an attractive level of operating cash flow. We have the capacity to finance transactions worth around PLN 200m (EUR 46.5m), equivalent to roughly one year’s EBITDA,” says Dariusz Korecki.

Growth potential does not necessarily translate into major acquisitions. Nevertheless, Synektik already has M&A experience and intends to continue strengthening the group’s business through acquisitions. It is interested in mature companies – rather than startups – operating in areas closely related to its own business: oncology, cardiology and neurosurgery.

Potential acquisitions in radiopharmaceuticals

Synektik debuted on NewConnect in 2011 and moved to the Warsaw Stock Exchange’s main market three years later. It went public to finance the development of what was then a new business area: radiopharmaceutical production. These are substances used in diagnostics and treatment, including in oncology.

Radiopharmaceuticals have lost some share of Synektik’s total revenue as other business segments have expanded. In 2025, sales from this area increased from PLN 45.1m (EUR 10.5m) to PLN 50.5m (EUR 11.7m). They remain strategically important due to the recurring nature of demand, the potential to increase sales with limited additional investment and high EBITDA margins of around 30%.

The company’s 2018 acquisition of competitor Montrol Poland for PLN 14.7m (EUR 3.4m) may not be its final move in this segment.

“We are interested not only in acquiring additional radiopharmaceutical manufacturers operating in Europe. We also want to expand our product portfolio,” says Dariusz Korecki.

Synektik launched Poland’s first so-called cyclotron for radiopharmaceutical production in 2012. Today, it operates three of the nine cyclotrons available in the country (with four located at public-sector entities).

Further consolidation in healthcare IT

Another attractive area for Synektik in terms of potential acquisitions is information technology. The company sees IT as a crucial component of the healthcare system, connecting different areas of medicine. In January 2025, it acquired IT4kan for PLN 4.15m (EUR 1m).

“At the same time, we are looking for complementary medical technologies that we could add to our offering. Potential acquisitions and further diversification of our portfolio should have a clearly positive impact on the group’s recurring revenues. Just five years ago, they accounted for less than 10% of total revenue; today, that figure is around 50%,” says Dariusz Korecki.

Within three years, this ratio could reach 60–65%. This would not only strengthen the stability of the company’s financial performance but also improve profitability.

The Baltics and Ukraine to drive international revenue growth

The group’s robotic business – specifically the supply of surgical systems – remains heavily dependent on hospitals receiving funding for medical equipment investments. This makes continued geographic expansion particularly important.

In 2018, Synektik became the exclusive distributor of da Vinci systems in Poland. Eight years later, it holds the same status in Czechia, Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Ukraine. International markets currently account for around 25% of revenue, but their share is expected to increase significantly by 2030.

“We still have room to grow in Czechia and Slovakia, while the Baltic states could add around 5–10% to our business. The Ukrainian market, where we expect the first installations in the 2026/2027 financial year, is still at an early stage of development. It is difficult to outline possible scenarios today. However, given the size of the population and the scale of healthcare needs, Ukraine could become one of our more important markets over the longer term,” says Dariusz Korecki.

Robots are becoming increasingly common in Polish hospitals

The domestic market remains far from saturation. The share of general surgery procedures performed with the assistance of surgical robots in Poland is just 2%, compared with 15% in the United States, according to Synektik’s report “The Future of Healthcare Automation in Central and Eastern Europe 2030.”

Between 2017 and 2025, the number of robotic-assisted procedures in Poland increased from 124 to 24,600, according to the Modern Healthcare Institute’s report “Robotic Surgery 2026.” Over the same period, the number of hospitals using surgical robots rose from just 3 to 93 (15 of them operate at least two robots). In 2022, the market leader performed 378 such procedures; by 2025, that figure had reached 1,187.

“When we entered the robotics market in 2018, we did not anticipate such rapid growth. It has been driven by many factors, including growing awareness among decision-makers, the medical community and patients themselves about the scale of the qualitative revolution brought by robotic surgery. Among other benefits, it significantly accelerates patients’ return to normal life and improves doctors’ working conditions. I am convinced that today no surgeon operating with a robot would imagine returning to previous methods,” says Synektik’s vice president.

Over eight years, the company has installed more than 100 robots in Poland. Including devices supplied by other manufacturers, there are now a total of 110–120 systems operating in the country. The da Vinci system from Intuitive remains the dominant platform.

“Over the next three years, the number could double. Even under such a scenario, however, Poland would still remain well below the level of robotic surgery development already achieved in many Western European countries,” says Dariusz Korecki.

What is holding back robotic surgery in Poland?

The manager argues that surgical robots in Poland are currently used in only a small proportion of potential oncology procedures – just a dozen or so percent. In more advanced markets, the share is several times higher.

“The use of robots will gradually expand beyond oncology, covering an increasing number of other areas of surgery. Ultimately, even relatively simple procedures, such as hernia repairs or appendectomies, will be performed using robotic systems. In the United States, more procedures are already carried out this way outside oncology than within it,” says Dariusz Korecki.

He no longer considers either skepticism among the medical community or access to financing to be a barrier to the development of surgical robotics in Poland. Instead, he identifies the scope and structure of reimbursement for medical procedures as the key challenge.

“Greater physician efficiency and faster patient recovery represent a real reduction in the burden on the healthcare system and its main payer, the National Health Fund (NFZ). Poland still lacks a comprehensive reimbursement model covering all possible procedures and linking the level of funding to proven clinical outcomes. Such a solution is already successfully operating, among other places, in Czechia,” explains Dariusz Korecki.

For this reason, he views positively the establishment of a new working group by the Ministry of Health. Its task is to assess the potential of surgical robotics in Poland and develop a strategy for its further development.

What could stop Synektik?

Synektik does not consider the potential loss of exclusivity in favor of another distributor to be a significant business risk. It also views the possibility of the manufacturer taking over direct local sales as equally unlikely. Such moves are rare, and Intuitive has only recently agreed to extend the existing agreement, which runs until 2029, by another two years – following the expansion of cooperation to include Ukraine.

“We are the largest and one of the highest-rated among the company’s more than 20 partners worldwide. Moreover, from the perspective of direct sales, the most attractive markets are in Western Europe. In our part of the continent, cooperation with local distributors remains the dominant model. For comparison, in Poland we most often deliver a single system to one hospital, while Intuitive’s partner in the United Kingdom secures contracts covering even a dozen or more robots at a time for entire healthcare networks,” says Dariusz Korecki.

The company does, however, take the emergence of new technologies seriously. It does not intend to simply wait for developments to unfold.

“Innovation has been the foundation of our strategy from the very beginning, and we want to remain a leader in this area. We started producing radiopharmaceuticals at a time when practically no one in Poland was thinking about this market. We introduced surgical robotics to Poland, then expanded our offering to include microsurgical robotics and later also minimally invasive technologies. We do not intend to stop with our current product portfolio,” says Synektik’s vice president.