STENTiT and the EIC Accelerator: A Stent That Becomes an Artery

STENTiT, a 2017 spin-off of Eindhoven University of Technology, makes the Resorbable Fibrillated Scaffold, a stent woven from bioresorbable microfibres that holds a narrowed leg artery open while the patient's own cells grow into it, then dissolves, leaving new vessel tissue behind. It targets critical limb ischaemia below the knee, which can lead to amputation. It was selected in the EIC Accelerator's March 2023 cut-off with blended finance and received an EU grant of €2.50 million for EX-STENT, a €3.71 million project that ran from September 2023 to November 2025, according to CORDIS. The project was to optimise the design, run clinical trials to show safety in humans and develop longer stents.

The only public report, to August 2024, says STENTiT froze the design, scaled up production of clinical batches and submitted its trial application, and began work on longer implants, according to the CORDIS reporting page. Doctors at the Medical University of Graz treated the first patients in the VITAL-IT 1 feasibility study in June 2025; it will include up to ten patients, according to TU/e. No results have been published, and the company's website says the device "is not approved or cleared for any indication in any market".

Where STENTiT Stands Now

The VITAL-IT 1 study follows patients for two years, so full results are not due before 2027. In mid-2025 STENTiT was raising a €30 million Series A, and first clinical data were expected to help it, according to Innovation Origins. The EIC award included up to €10 million of equity for that round, according to Lifesciences@Work. No closing has been announced, and the company's news page has had no update since June 2025.

The Technology: Scaffold, Then Tissue

Below the knee, arteries are narrow and fragile. Balloon angioplasty, the standard treatment, often fails: STENTiT cites complications in 40% of patients and restenosis in 73% within three months. Metal stents can cause scar tissue and clots. The RFS is porous, carries no drug, and is meant to be fully resorbed within 12 months as the artery rebuilds itself. Whether that happens in people, and keeps the artery open, is what the study must show.

What the EIC Award Promised, and What the Record Shows

The award promised a finished design, human safety trials and work on longer stents. The design and clinical production were completed, and the first human study began five months before the project ended. Its safety results are not yet public, and there is no final report on progress with longer implants.

1. Design freezeDeliveredFirst report.
2. Clinical batchesDeliveredScaled up, per report.
3. First-in-human studyStartedJune 2025, no results.
4. Longer implantsUnverifiedNo update since 2024.

The Money

The EU paid 67% of the project. STENTiT raised €1.8 million in a 2022 seed round from NextGen Ventures, BOM and others, according to STENTiT. The EIC's up to €10 million of equity was tied to the Series A. Whether that equity has been invested is not public.

What Cannot Be Checked

Why Europe Should Care

Critical limb ischaemia leads to more than 250,000 amputations a year, according to Innovation Origins. A treatment that keeps below-the-knee arteries open would save limbs and lives. STENTiT has taken a Dutch university invention into patients; the evidence that it works is still being gathered.

The Verdict

STENTiT and the EIC have not been asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on public records and published statements, linked throughout.