HaloBraid Secures $7 Million To Bring Braiding Tech To Salons

Getting braids could soon take a fraction of the time thanks to the new AI-powered hair company HaloBraid, a startup developing technology for textured hair. According to a press release published June 23, the company has raised $7 million in seed funding to bring the world’s first braid-assist device to market.

HaloBraid funding: Why does it matter?

The machine uses machine learning to help professional stylists complete braids up to five times faster while maintaining their own unique braiding technique. Stylists begin each braid by hand, and the device takes over the repetitive portion of the process, allowing them to finish styles more efficiently while staying in full creative control.

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The funding round was led by Seven Seven Six (776), the venture capital firm founded by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, with additional backing from AlleyCorp and Bling Capital. The investment will support product development, manufacturing, stylist testing, and salon partnerships as Halo prepares for its commercial launch.

“As an investor, I look for founders that see something broken that everyone else has accepted as fixed. Braiding is a perfect example: it is a process that has not materially changed in thousands of years, despite being one of the most popular hairstyles for millions of Americans and a significant part of the $270 billion salon services industry,” said Alexis Ohanian, General Partner at 776. “Halo has introduced a novel technology to a manual and highly specialized professionl service.”

Who is the founder of HaloBraid?

The company says the device was created to solve one of the industry’s biggest challenges: the amount of time and physical labor required to complete braided styles. According to HaloBraid, a survey of 2,000 people who regularly wear braids found that 95% said they would get their hair braided more often if the process took less time.

At the same time, many professional braiders report working overnight to keep up with demand while dealing with the physical strain that comes from hours of repetitive hand movements. HaloBraid is designed to reduce that workload, allowing stylists to take on more clients while putting less stress on their hands and bodies.

“Braiding is more popular than ever but the way we braid hasn’t changed. It’s still time-consuming and painful for stylists and clients alike,” said Halo’s CEO and Founder, Yinka Ogunbiyi, who won Harvard Business School’s prestigious President’s Innovation Challenge in 2025 for her groundbreaking company. “Our technology transforms braiding by speeding up the most repetitive part of the process. We designed this with stylists, using their perspective to build a product that supports them, without replacing them. We’re excited to help stylists and clients reclaim their time in and behind the chair.”

Ogunbiyi, who earned degrees from both Harvard Business School and the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences in 2023, previously received a $75,000 grand prize through Harvard Innovation Labs’ President’s Innovation Challenge for developing the technology. The annual competition recognizes startups with the potential to reshape industries through innovative ideas. At the time, Ogunbiyi said she planned to use the grand prize money to open a hair salon in Boston to test various braiding styles before scaling up manufacturing.

While HaloBraid is the company’s first product, Ogunbiyi says it’s only the beginning. Halo’s long-term goal is to build a broader suite of technology focused on improving the textured hair care experience around the world.

“Innovation in this category is long overdue,” said Ogunbiyi. “HaloBraid is our first product, but our larger vision is to create breakthrough technology that makes textured hair care faster, easier, more comfortable, and more joyful.”

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