The Tiko Unibody 3D Printer raised almost $3 million from its debut Kickstarter campaign, the company Tiko 3D, however, is on the verge of winding up the company. Backers have not received the Tiko 3D printer, which has been described as faulty and inaccurate, and as per sources, will not receive a refund.
NexD1 3D printer campaign, another promising crowdfunding project, too has wound up, despite raising millions of dollars from the Kickstarter campaign.

The $179 Tiko delta 3D printer, a unibody 3D printer that had 16,538 backers who raised $2,950,874 to fund the 3D printer, has ceased operations. Toronto-based startup Tiko 3D announced on Wednesday that operations of the company have stopped and cited reasons like hardware and software setbacks, manufacturing challenges, repeated delays, logistical and regulatory hurdles, unending certification requirements, unplanned operating expenses, sleepless nights, strained relationships, frustrated suppliers, new competitors, and a declined industry.

The Tiko 3D printer was envisaged as a simple 3D printer with a 50-micron resolution, a 2.27-liter print volume which was also cost-effective. The 4,100 backers, who received the Tiko 3D printer, were disappointed as the machine turned out hugely unreliable and was packed with non-functional cheap components. Financial problems too, have arisen, causing the Tiko 3D to put the project into “hibernation”. What is worse is that the backers will not be receiving their money.

The year 2016 was not so promising for the 3D printing startups and the start of 2017 has not been great either. But we cannot compare the plight of the Tiko printer to the Peachy printer debacle. We hope that this hibernated Tiko project gets revamped in the future. There will be more 3D printing start-ups coming in future and raising large amounts of funds at the Kickstarter campaign. We hope the rest of 2017 brings better luck to the 3D printing fraternity.