Key Takeaways
- Prosperous Robotics began as a sketch on a farm dining‑room table to help a client with ALS and Parkinson’s disease.
- Founder Michael Bankowski drew on a lifetime of caregiving experience—from family care to nursing‑home leadership—to shape the company’s mission of “restore mobility, restore dignity.”
- The firm’s first patented concept, ROSE (a shape‑shifting robotic walker), evolved into a broader platform that includes the Heroes.AI app, a hand exoskeleton, and an operating system designed to integrate additional rehabilitation devices.
- Prosperous Robotics targets stroke recovery and other neurological conditions, with a strong emphasis on serving veterans and addressing rural‑health gaps.
- Headquartered in the USD Discovery District in Sioux Falls, the company leverages South Dakota’s healthcare relationships, entrepreneurial support, and quality‑of‑life advantages while building an export‑oriented technology business.
- The leadership team blends bedside expertise (Bankowski, Jill Gabbert) with international robotics and rehabilitation talent (Maja Rudinac, Zen Koh) to ensure technology is grounded in real‑world patient needs.
- Ongoing work includes securing financing, assembling the first hand‑exoskeleton units, and pursuing partnerships with the VA, state economic‑development groups, and international centers (e.g., in Ukraine) to expand global impact.
Origin of the Idea
The story of Prosperous Robotics starts at a modest dining‑room table on a farm outside Viborg, South Dakota. Michael Bankowski, then a caregiver for a client living with ALS and Parkinson’s disease, watched the client struggle to move from bed to bathroom without assistance. Unable to find an existing device that could adapt to the client’s changing mobility while preserving independence, Bankowski sketched a robotic walker with shape‑shifting arms. The client’s enthusiastic reaction—“Michael, that is it”—validated the concept, which Bankowski later named ROSE after his mother, Rose, a longtime nurse who cared for veterans.
Founder’s Background in Caregiving
Bankowski’s path to health‑care technology was forged long before the sketch. Growing up in Sioux Falls as the son of a VA‑hospital nurse and therapist, he earned the nickname “VA baby.” Early experiences caring for his ill grandmother—cleaning her tracheostomy and changing gauze—left a lasting impression. After a brief attempt to pursue finance and a football career at the U.S. Air Force Academy (halted by injury), Bankowski returned to South Dakota, earned an economics degree, and worked in banking. The illness and death of his mother in 2009, followed by his brother’s tragic accident in 2011, redirected him toward caregiving. He became a certified nursing assistant and nursing‑home administrator, where he reduced turnover and built a new rehab wing, falling in love with the rehabilitative aspect of care that helps patients return home.
From Bedside Invention to Patent
About twelve years ago, Bankowski launched Prosperous Home Care, logging more than 10,000 hours of hands‑on caregiving in the first four years. This bedside exposure convinced him that technology must emerge from real‑world needs, not just laboratories. In 2019 he filed a patent for the ROSE concept, which was granted in 2021. Early prototypes were built at South Dakota State University, earning a proof‑of‑concept award. An initial federal grant was rejected, with a reviewer doubting the technology could be built in South Dakota—a critique that only strengthened Bankowski’s resolve.
Building a Multidisciplinary Team
Bankowski’s quest for expertise led him to serve as CEO of Minnesota‑based Lite Run, where he worked on a gait trainer that unweights patients for safer movement. A pivotal call from MIT professor Harry Asada, involved in a National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center, connected Bankowski with world‑leading robotics researchers. He recognized that effective rehabilitation technology requires both engineering rigor and input from nurses, therapists, caregivers, patients, and families. These collaborations brought together co‑founders Dr. Maja Rudinac (robotics and rehabilitation technology) and Zen Koh (assistive‑device experience across continents), forming the core team behind Prosperous Robotics.
The Prosperous Robotics Platform
The company’s mission—“restore mobility, restore dignity”—is operationalized through a vertically integrated physical AI operating system for neuro‑rehabilitation. Central to the platform is Heroes.AI, a recently launched app that delivers personalized rehabilitation plans, tracks progress, and adapts exercises in real time. Complementing the software is a suite of connected hardware, beginning with a hand exoskeleton designed for early‑stage deployment and scalability. The operating system is engineered to integrate additional devices over time, allowing clinics to expand their therapeutic arsenal without overhauling existing workflows.
Target Market and Initial Focus
Prosperous Robotics is initially concentrating on stroke recovery and other neurological conditions, a market where the gap between hospital discharge and true independence remains wide. Bankowski emphasizes that the technology is not limited to stroke; the same principles can aid individuals with Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injury, and similar disorders. The hand exoskeleton serves as a proof‑of‑concept and a manageable first product, allowing the company to establish manufacturing processes, gather clinical feedback, and refine the AI‑driven rehabilitation loop before tackling larger mobility exoskeletons.
Strategic Location in Sioux Falls
In 2026 Prosperous Robotics moved into the USD Discovery District in northwest Sioux Falls, a research‑and‑innovation hub designed to foster growth for South‑Dakota‑based companies. The shift from operating out of Bankowski’s home to a dedicated office space signals the venture’s maturation and provides visibility—prospective clients and partners can see the ROSE prototype from the window. Bankowski praises South Dakota’s strong healthcare relationships, entrepreneurial support, and high quality of life as assets that enable firms like his to thrive while serving national and global markets.
Funding, Partnerships, and Manufacturing Plans
The company is currently finalizing financing through a combination of SBA loans, state and local economic‑development programs (South Dakota Works, the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, the Sioux Falls Development Foundation, and Forward Sioux Falls), and private investment. Once funding is secured, Prosperous Robotics plans to set up assembly workstations within the new facility, beginning with the hand exoskeleton. The goal is to manufacture ROSE‑to‑produce the devices locally, creating high‑value jobs and demonstrating that sophisticated medical‑device production can succeed in South Dakota.
Veteran‑Centric Mission and Global Outlook
As a service‑disabled, veteran‑owned small business, Prosperous Robotics maintains a deep commitment to veterans. The firm is actively engaging with the Sioux Falls and Minneapolis VA hospitals, pursuing contracts and collaborative research to bring its technology into veteran‑care pathways. Beyond the U.S., Bankowski has visited rehabilitation centers in Ukraine that work with amputee soldiers, exploring how the company’s mobility solutions could support wounded combatants worldwide. While the addressable market is large, Bankowski repeatedly stresses that the ultimate measure of success is the individual’s ability to regain movement, participate in daily life, and experience improved dignity.
Broader Impact on Rural Health and Industry Development
Bankowski identifies rural health as one of the most pressing challenges in rehabilitation; long distances to specialty clinics often leave patients without timely, intensive therapy. By developing adaptable, AI‑driven devices that can be used in homes or community centers, Prosperous Robotics aims to bridge that gap. Moreover, he envisions the company as a catalyst for a new industry cluster in Sioux Falls, attracting and retaining talented engineers, clinicians, and entrepreneurs who wish to innovate while staying rooted in their community.
Conclusion
From a humble sketch at a farm table to a burgeoning med‑tech enterprise housed in South Dakota’s premier innovation district, Prosperous Robotics exemplifies how personal caregiving experience, interdisciplinary collaboration, and strategic regional support can translate into meaningful technological advances. Its focus on restoring mobility and dignity—starting with stroke survivors and veterans, extending to rural populations, and aspiring to global reach—offers a compelling narrative of innovation born from empathy and sustained by relentless determination.
For more information, visit the Prosperous Robotics website or contact South Dakota Biotech at [email protected].