HeyGears G1 Series: Desktop Full-Color 3D+UV Printer Raises $8M in 2 Days on Kickstarter

Product Core Features

The G1 Series' core technology adapts HeyGears' proprietary Multi-Material Fusion DLP technology from its industrial-grade dental and manufacturing product lines to a desktop device. This enables true full-color resin 3D printing with over 10 million colors in a single pass, using multi-channel CMYK+W photosensitive resins combined with DLP UV curing. It also supports the simultaneous presence of full-color solid areas within the same print.

Unlike traditional FDM or monochrome DLP printers, which require manual post-coloring where colors reside on the surface and are prone to fading from touch or wear, full-color 3D printing embeds colors within the resin structure itself, resulting in a finished product directly from the printer.

A primary engineering challenge for full-color resin printing is nozzle clogging and color residue during multi-color resin mixing. HeyGears claims to have developed a patented anti-clogging system. The long-term reliability and ease of maintenance of this critical mechanism will be a key focus for review communities post-delivery.

The G1X version introduces 3D texture UV printing, capable of directly printing three-dimensional textures with realistic tactile height onto flat or curved surfaces of over 400 types of substrates, including wood, metal, leather, glass, and ceramics. This is not a visual illusion but a physical embossed effect created by layering UV ink.

This feature elevates the G1X beyond simply printing new objects, allowing it to add textures and patterns to existing items, offering unique value for custom gifts, personalized products, and small-batch creative goods.

The interlayer adhesion of UV textures on different substrates, considering their light absorption rates and curvature, is a critical engineering variable affecting the consistency and durability of the texture effect.

The independent 2D UV printing function allows for direct flat image printing on object surfaces at a maximum resolution of 1440×2400 DPI. This is suitable for corporate custom merchandise, personalized signed items, and image printing requiring precise color reproduction. This feature enables the same device to handle two distinct use cases—creating new objects and printing on existing ones—with printing speeds approximately three times faster than previous UV printing solutions. The practical ease of switching between 2D and 3D printing modes, and the stability of both modes sharing a common infrastructure, are experience details that will need validation in the mass-produced version of this integrated design.

The G1 Series is deeply integrated with HeyGears' self-developed HeyVerse and Blueprint Studio software platforms. Users can directly generate full-color 3D models via text descriptions (AI-assisted generation) or convert uploaded photos into full-color 3D printable objects with a single click, eliminating the need for manual modeling.

This software ecosystem lowers the barrier from concept to printed product to a level accessible for general consumers. The precision of AI-generated models and the user's ability to finely control the generated results will be key experience dimensions determining whether this workflow is merely sufficient or truly excellent for professional users.

The device features a built-in automatic calibration system that performs print platform leveling automatically before each print, reducing errors associated with manual leveling. The patented anti-clogging design provides an engineering solution for the inherent problem of ink path residue during multi-color resin mixing.

For daily, high-frequency commercial use, automatic calibration and anti-clogging directly impact production efficiency and material waste costs, making them essential engineering conditions for elevating full-color 3D printing from an experimental device to a production tool.

Company Background

HeyGears (Guangzhou HeyGears Technology Co., Ltd.) was founded in 2015 by a team from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's College of Engineering, led by CEO Peiyan Gui, with its headquarters in Huangpu, Guangzhou. The company began with digital dental DLP solutions, establishing a mature B2B customer base in the global dental, orthodontics, and hearing aid markets with its UltraCraft series of industrial-grade DLP printers. Approximately 70% of its revenue comes from consumables rather than equipment sales, indicating strong customer retention and a mature consumables ecosystem. Public information also shows that HeyGears has completed four rounds of financing, totaling approximately $153 million, including Series A in 2018, Series B in 2019, and Series C in May 2026. Based on available information, the G1 Series marks HeyGears' first systematic entry into the consumer/creator market, making a significant impact on the current 3D printing market landscape.

Global Market Analysis

The global 3D printing market, valued at approximately $20.8 billion in 2024, is projected to grow at a high CAGR of about 23% to reach roughly $88.1 billion by 2030. Consumer-grade and desktop professional equipment represent one of the fastest-growing segments. The desktop resin (SLA/DLP) printer sub-market, valued at approximately $1.59 billion in 2024, is expected to grow at a 25.8% CAGR to about $13.16 billion by 2033. This growth is driven by continuously falling equipment prices, improved printing material performance, AI-assisted design tools lowering modeling barriers, and the expanding demand for customized consumer products in gifts, accessories, and small-batch manufacturing.

In terms of the competitive landscape, consumer-grade full-color 3D printing is currently an almost blank market. While Bambu Lab X1C and Prusa XL are leading products in FDM multi-color printing, FDM colors are determined by filament splicing and cannot achieve the fine full-color mixing of resin-based systems. Industrial-grade full-color inkjet 3D printing is available from systems like the Stratasys J-series and 3D Systems ProJet 5500, but these devices typically cost tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars, placing them well outside the purchasing range for consumers and small businesses. In the independent segment of UV flatbed printing, Roland and Mimaki offer mature industrial solutions, but their starting prices are usually above $10,000.

At its crowdfunding entry price point of $1999, the G1 Series is positioned as the world's first consumer-grade device to integrate both full-color resin 3D printing and UV flatbed printing into a desktop-deployable unit, giving it no direct competitors in the current market. However, a significant challenge lies in the complexity of anti-clogging and ink path maintenance for multi-channel full-color resin mixing, which has long been a criticized barrier for industrial-grade full-color devices. Whether HeyGears' patented anti-clogging design can maintain stability in everyday consumer use will be the quickest indicator of the product's true quality post-delivery. Additionally, the device's total weight of approximately 45kg means "desktop" refers to its physical dimensions rather than implying a lightweight, portable consumer product, making it more suitable for fixed studio or commercial deployments.

Desktop full-color resin 3D printing represents a high-technical-barrier, nearly unaddressed market demand. Leveraging 11 years of industrial-grade DLP experience and $153 million in financing, HeyGears possesses a technical starting point that is difficult for any consumer brand to replicate in this segment. The G1 Series' potential to define this product category hinges on whether its anti-clogging system and multi-resin color-changing mechanism can achieve the same stability standards in widespread real-world consumer use as they have demonstrated in its industrial-grade dental products.