Braiding Automation
HaloBraid Raises $7 Million Seed Funding to Automate Salon Braiding, Boosting Efficiency
Anonymous
Key Points
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HaloBraid’s first device is designed to finish braids that stylists start, with claims that it can complete braids in seconds and make the process roughly five times faster than manual braiding.
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The startup highlights occupational health benefits for stylists, noting that long, repetitive braiding can cause issues such as carpal tunnel syndrome and physical strain, which the device aims to mitigate.
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There is a large market context for braiding, with estimates that about 8 billion hours are spent braiding annually and that 95% of people would braid more often if the process were faster; the broader global salon services market is valued at around $270 billion.
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Founder Yinka Ogunbiyi brings an engineering background (MS from Harvard) and an MBA, and she previously founded a smart cooking appliance company before launching HaloBraid during the pandemic as a hair-tech venture.
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The seed round was led by Seven Seven Six with participation from AlleyCorp and Bling Capital, and HaloBraid plans a fall launch in salons as it scales development and partner networks.
HaloBraid has raised $7 million in seed funding to build what it calls the first automated braiding assistant for hair salons, TechCrunch reported. The round was led by Seven Seven Six, the venture firm of Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, with AlleyCorp and Bling Capital also participating.
The device is designed to finish braids that a stylist starts, cutting appointment times from as long as six to twelve hours down to a fraction of that. HaloBraid says the tool works up to five times faster than manual braiding and plans a full salon launch for fall 2026, The Next Web reported.
A Pandemic Idea That Took 450 Prototypes to Build
Founder Yinka Ogunbiyi first had the idea in 2020 while stuck in London during COVID-19 lockdowns. She spent four days trying to braid her own hair and decided to treat it as an engineering problem, The Next Web reported. She went on to earn an MS and MBA from Harvard, where she and co-founder David Afolabi spent 18 months building more than 450 prototypes.
The breakthrough came in May 2025, when HaloBraid won the Harvard President's Innovation Challenge and its $75,000 grand prize. A video of the pitch went viral, drawing over 4.9 million views on TikTok and Instagram and putting more than 5,000 stylists on the company's waitlist, according to TechCrunch.
The Device Helps Stylists — It Doesn't Replace Them
HaloBraid uses a stylist-assist model. The human braider starts each braid at the root to set the right tension and pattern. The machine then takes over and finishes the braid in seconds. Ogunbiyi said the tool uses machine learning to copy the specific style of each individual stylist, Tech Startups reported.
The company also highlights a health benefit. Long braiding sessions force stylists to repeat the same pinching and pulling motions for hours, leading to carpal tunnel syndrome and early-onset arthritis at high rates. Ogunbiyi put it plainly: "Braiding hasn't seen innovation since it was invented 5,000 years ago," according to The Next Web.
An $11 Billion Market With 8 Billion Hours on the Clock
The scale of the opportunity is hard to ignore. An estimated 8 billion hours are spent braiding hair globally each year. The braiding market alone is worth roughly $11 billion, sitting inside a broader $270 billion global salon services industry, Whalesbook reported. HaloBraid surveyed 2,000 consumers and found that 95% said they would braid more often if it were faster.
Lead investor Alexis Ohanian said his interest came from watching his wife, Serena Williams, and their daughters sit through ten-hour braiding sessions. He called it "the Dyson moment for textured hair," according to TechCrunch. HaloBraid even hired Robert Tweedie, a former Dyson design manager who worked on the Airwrap, to lead manufacturing.
Skeptics Question Quality, Cost, and Cultural Impact
Not everyone is convinced. Some stylists and customers online have questioned whether a machine can match the neatness and artistry of a skilled human braider. Others worry that high machine costs will only benefit large, well-funded salons, leaving independent booth-renter braiders behind, Whalesbook noted.
There are also cultural concerns. For many Black women, hours in the salon chair are a time for community bonding — not just a service. Some community members view automation as stripping that ritual away. HaloBraid says it is not trying to replace the stylist or the experience, but to make both more sustainable and more accessible, according to TipRanks.
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