Dessintey has already installed 200 devices in France and is now focused on international expansion with local partners (already 150 devices installed in Europe, Middle East and Asia). With revenues of €6.5 million in 2024, up 60% compared to 2023, the firm plans to strengthen its global presence in 2025. To this end, it has formed a scientific committee involving several European professors, who have become ambassadors for this revolutionary technology.
Dessintey’s Intensive Visual Simulation technology (IVS) combines cameras, a screen and algorithms to simulate movement. It is efficient for upper and lower limb rehabilitation, offering a complementary solution to other therapies (robotics, FES, etc.).
By relying on local suppliers to manufacture its devices, Dessintey is also contributing to the regional economy. The business achieved profitability in 2021 and continues to grow, thanks to its sales and prudent financial management.
Dessintey: French innovation supporting global rehabilitation
Dessintey embodies French excellence in healthcare and technology. By combining medical research and technological innovation, this MedTech business offers a new perspective to patients around the world, accelerating and preparing efficiently their return home, for an improved quality of life.
Expansion and performance
Result of a partnership with the hospital and university, the MedTech Dessintey is doubling the size of its factory and is expanding internationally. Its medical devices, based on mirror therapy, aid in the rehabilitation of stroke victims by stimulating the brain.
In the 1990s, American physician Vilayanur Ramachandran developed the mirror therapy technique, which was initially for use with hand amputees. A mirror placed between the two arms gives the brain the illusion that the missing limb, whose arm is hidden by the mirror, is still working.
In France, a team made up of Professor Pascal Giraux, from the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Laboratory at Saint-Étienne University Hospital, and Davy Luneau, a therapist, is adapting the technique for patients suffering from hemiplegia, particularly with a view to digitizing this mirror effect.
“When a patient’s brain sees their impaired limb moving on the screen, brain activity is re‑activated. Thanks to neuroplasticity, new connections are made,” said Nicolas Fournier, co-founder and president of Dessintey.
Founded in 2017, this startup, which has grown into an SME with twenty-five employees, has developed two patented devices combining cameras, one or several screens and algorithms that simulate movement. Dessintey has named its unique technology Intensive Visual Simulation (IVS): IVS 3 for upper limbs and IVS 4 for legs.
To manufacture its rehabilitation screens, Dessintey relies on regional suppliers, such as Image for the trays, Berlier for the sheet metal, Ektro for the wiring and Murat for the paint. The screens and electronics come mainly from Asia.
To date, Dessintey has only raised €1 million. In 2019, it opened its capital to the Turenne Capital fund, part of Crédit Agricole Loire Haute-Loire, and to a family office. The co‑founders remain the majority shareholders. “Around €5 million was needed to design and market our first machines. We were able to finance ourselves through our sales, and by being economical and aiming for profitability.”
The company has been officially selected a few weeks ago, to be part of the Ukraine Fund, a 200 million euros initiative from France to support Ukraine’s rebuild after the war. Dessintey will equip and train 45 Ukrainian hospitals with its solutions to help war injured civilians and soldiers to recover.
“The ‘Rehab for Ukraine’ project was made possible thanks to the support of Business France Ukraine in Kyiv, which helped establish a strong partnership with Ukrainian authorities, particularly the Ministry of Health” says Nicolas Fournier.
Two new concepts in 2025
The company is launching two new concepts with four devices in 2025.
STIIMP (Implicit Induced Stimulation) is a patented and unique technology dedicated to upper limb rehabilitation. Based on the Constraint Induced Movement Therapy (CIMT), the objective is to enhance and reward the use of the pathological limb without strict mechanical constraint.
The second concept is about making patients actors of their own rehabilitation. The Guided Self-Rehabilitation Lab offers a rich and open space for patients who can come and practice cognitive and motor activities in autonomy, with other patients or their families, or in group therapy sessions with their therapist. By increasing their time of activity, patients consolidate the benefits of their convention therapy and prepare efficiently their return home. The Guided Self Rehabilitation Lab has already been sold and installed in a few centers in France, Italy and Germany.