Kickstarter is Testing the Next Wave of Desktop 3D Printing

3D printers are raising serious money again…on Kickstarter, that is.

Over the last few months, a new group of 3D printer campaigns has attracted millions of dollars and thousands of backers. But many of these campaigns go beyond the typical desktop 3D printer. Many of the printers getting funded are bringing technologies that have traditionally been more expensive or specialized, like full-color printing, continuous carbon fiber, multiple independent toolheads, SLS, and even metal LPBF, into smaller and, in some cases, much cheaper, systems.

One of the biggest campaigns came from HeyGears, whose G1 Series raised over $17.8 million from more than 4,000 backers. FibreSeek raised almost $4.7 million from 1,539 backers for the FibreSeeker 3. Sovol pulled in roughly $3.2 million from 2,063 ba