Micro 3D’s £120 Printer Tops Kickstarter Goal In 11 Minutes

M3D’s affordable 3D printer has smashed its Kickstarter target after just 11 minutes on the site as early adopters raced to take advantage of the sub-$300 [£180] machine.

The Micro 3D raised the $50,000 [£30,000] required in just 11 minutes and has gone on to reach $2,253,579 [£1,344,217], at the time of writing, with a total of 7,958 backers choosing to pump money into the project.

Early adopters could have picked up the machine for just $199 [£120], the price moving up to $249 [£149] when the first level sold out and anyone wanting to acquire the machine now will have to fork out at least $299 [£178] for the device at its cheapest level.

When the device was first unveiled on 7 April, M3D dubbed it the “first truly consumer” version of the 3D printer as it can be used straight out of the box and is compatible with all the latest desktop and laptop operating systems.

The price point is significantly lower than other devices, 3D Systems’ Cube entering the market last year at a price of £1,195 and its pricing is giving experts much optimism.

"Along with the market entry of New Kinpo I think it's one of the most interesting things to happen in desktop 3D printing," expert Joris Peels told the BBC. "New price points and lower pricing will be key in getting people to buy a 3D printer. Not many people can afford to pay $2,000 [£1193] for a printer but many more can try one for $500 [£298] or $300 [£179]."

M3D will start shipping the device to those that paid over $899 [£536] to be a part of the project and anyone that was lucky enough to snap up one of the printers at $199 [£120] has to wait until at least February 2015 to receive the device.