08-12-2015: 3devo launched its Kickstarter campaign with the Devo NEXT 1.0 desktop filament extruder

Despite a campaign failure, the comapny managed to grow to succesful company afterwards

On August 12, 2015, the Dutch startup 3devo made its first appearance with a Kickstarter campaign for its debut product, the Devo NEXT 1.0 desktop filament extruder. Unfortunately, the campaign did not succeed—it was canceled by 3devo just a month later after raising only a little over 50% of the requested amount (€26k instead of €50k). Despite this setback, the company not only continued to grow but has since become a leader in the filament extrusion market, now focusing on laboratory and R&D purposes rather than consumer as like in the early days.

The story of 3devo is one of the rare instances where initial failure does not destroy a fledgling company but instead strengthens it, allowing it to achieve independent success. Officially founded in 2015, 3devo revolutionized the desktop filament maker segment, which had previously been dominated by inefficient, semi-amateur, or fully amateur devices. By introducing successive innovations, the company’s products are now used by leading manufacturing companies worldwide.

But let’s start from the beginning… The roots of 3devo trace back to 2012, when mechanical engineers Tim Wesselink and Lucas van Leeuwen founded the Dutch company Devoteq. Their work culminated in the Devo NEXT 1.0 desktop extruder, which debuted on Kickstarter in August 2015. In March 2016, Leeuwen left 3devo to focus on Devoteq, while Wesselink did the opposite—he departed from Devoteq to fully dedicate himself to 3devo, where he remains at the helm today.

What set 3devo apart from other models appearing on the market at that time was the attention to detail and the quality of the final product. The company emphasized that the NEXT 1.0 was designed to extrude professional-grade filament, ensuring that the filament it produced could be perfectly wound onto a 3D printer spool for optimal results.

Despite the initial Kickstarter failure, 3devo's market debut occurred in 2016. In the following years, the product line expanded to include dryers and plastic shredders. This year, the company introduced a new business model, focusing more on collaboration with customers rather than just selling them machines.