Skip to main content

Brazen Kickstarter scammer promised a $100 3D printer, built a house with funds

Peachy Printer - Indiegogo Campaign Video
The Peachy Printer had high hopes way back in 2013 when it first launched as a $100 3D printer that fits on your desk without breaking the bank. The project raised more than 600,000 Canadian dollars and promised to ship the gadget within several months. Now its co-founder is telling backers that more than CA$300,000 has been embezzled by a fellow partner, and is urging backers to contact the local police.

In a tell-all video on the Peachy Printer website, co-founder Ryan Grayston is explaining just what happened to all that money his company earned during the Kickstarter campaign nearly three years ago. Grayston explains that nearly half of the money had been embezzled by his business partner, David Boe, as early as 2014, failing to inform any backers until now.

Related Videos

After the Peachy Printer Kickstarter ended in late 2013, Boe and Grayston had nowhere to put all the money, so Boe deposited the money into his personal bank account until a new corporate account could be opened for the company to maintain. After that account opened, Grayston claims that Boe only transferred CA$200,000 of the money over, keeping the rest in his personal bank account. By March 2014, all the remaining money in Boe’s account, totaling more than CA$324,000, had been spent.

Update #64 - Big Bad News

So where did all that money go? Well there’s a house in Saskatchewan right now that Boe built using money from the Peachy Printer Kickstarter. Grayston claims that Boe then promised to repay the CA$324,000 — with interest — so that the Peachy Printer project could continue development and ultimately fulfill its promise of delivering 3D printers to its backers. Grayston even posted a video of Boe admitting to embezzling the money, and his conversations with him to eventually recoup it so Peachy Printer could pay its staff and buy the parts needed to build the printers.

Now, two years later, Peachy Printer is out of money. Grayston claims that Boe has repaid CA$107,000 of the CA$324,000 he promised to pay, and is working through a lawyer to negotiate the remaining payments. Grayston decided to finally go public with this information to his backers, and urges them to contact local police.

So what now? For the backers who’ve spent between $100 and $500 on this Kickstarter, the situation is dire. Grayston has already received a family loan of CA$50,000, and government funding to support the Peachy Printer project, and plans to reach out to other investors to continue funding the project and eventually ship out the 3D printers.

Rylan Tells Peachy Printer Backers About The Theft

So why didn’t backers hear about this sooner? Grayston states that his reasoning is grounded in expecting the money to be paid back sooner. After confronting Boe, he made payments through early 2015, despite also defaulting on payments promised through a legal agreement. Grayston only contacted police in October 2015 about the embezzlement, and even then waited nearly seven more months before telling his backers. All the while, it seems Kickstarter was not informed or aware of the financial difficulties, and Grayston continued to post progress updates without revealing any sign of trouble.

At best, Peachy Printer backers may (one day) see their 3D printers on their desk. They’ve already spent nearly three years waiting for it, and at worst the project looks dead in the water without serious financial assistance. Even if Peachy Printer finds other investors, it will need to make the money back selling its 3D printer while backers wait on receiving their rewards years after their investments.

Editors' Recommendations

NASA’s ‘Refabricator’ lets astronauts recycle 3D-printed tools to make new ones
refabricator 3d printing recycling iss etu photo 3 04 27 17

Christmas has come and gone, but that hasn’t stopped the International Space Station from gifting itself a pretty awesome new gadget to usher in 2019 in style. Called the Refabricator, it’s an integrated recycler and 3D printer that was just installed onboard the ISS. It is designed to turn recyclable plastics into 3D printable material.

“The Refabricator is key in demonstrating a sustainable model to fabricate, recycle, and reuse parts and waste materials on extended space exploration missions,” said Niki Werkheiser, manager of in-space manufacturing at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

Read more
What is 3D printing? Here’s everything you need to know

Have you ever wondered how 3D printing works, what types of 3D printing exist, or just what 3D printing is used for these days? You've come to the right place: We're going to cover the basic definition of 3D printing, how different versions are used, and some of the incredible things that additive manufacturing techniques are capable of.
3D printing: Basic definition

3D printing is a manufacturing process that creates a three dimensional object by incrementally adding material until the object is complete (this contrasts with subtractive manufacturing techniques such as carving or milling, in which an object is created by selectively removing parts from a piece of raw material). A 3D printer is simply a machine that can take a digital 3D model and turn it into a tangible 3D object via additive manufacturing. While these printers come in many forms, they all have three basic parts.
1. Digital file
The digital file instructs the printer exactly how to create the 3D object. It does this by dividing the object into layers and describing the dimensions of each layer with great accuracy. You then upload the finished digital file into the printer and watch it go to work. Many programs can create these files, including Tinkercad and Blender, which are both beginner-friendly options.
2. Printing machine
The machine has to accurately replicate the layers described in the digital file. That means that it needs enough free and clean space to construct the object, which is why 3D printers typically have a box, vat, or compartment to work in. While techniques vary, these machines usually employ nozzles and/or lasers to lay down the material and then set or cure it for each layer. As you can imagine, these machines must be calibrated very carefully: The most advanced 3D printers only operate in vacuums or at certain temperatures.
3. Printing material
The printer shapes or extrudes the printing material, which forms the printed object. While 3D printed objects are typically made of a single material, that material can be made of many different substances. One of the most popular is ABS plastic, the colorful, extruded plastic used in most home printers. However, 3D printers can also use various types of nylon and resins, some designed to be very hard and durable (all the better for testing prototypes. Other printers may use metals like steal, silver or gold. Some use ceramic materials, while others use synthetic sandstone. There are also many hybrid materials that combine plastics with other materials to add more properties.
Types of 3D printing

Read more
Forget plastic — Glowforge 3D laser printer builds with wood, fabric, leather

Introducing Glowforge - The 3D Laser Printer

Forget what you know about conventional 3D printers, because a Seattle-based company has unveiled what appears to be the next generation of 3D construction. Called the Glowforge 3D laser printer, this revolutionary new machine throws out the common model of printing with additives and instead cuts away at supplied materials to produce almost anything you want.

Read more