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Nigerian-American Harvard Graduate Yinka Ogunbiyi Raises $7million To Build World's First Braid-Assist Robot
Nigerian-American Harvard Graduate Yinka Ogunbiyi Raises $7million To Build World's First Braid-Assist Robot
NEWS
The Nigerian Record
7/25/20263 min read
Nigerian-American biomechanical engineer and Harvard University graduate, Yinka Ogunbiyi, has secured $7 million in seed funding to commercialise HaloBraid, the world's first patented braid-assist robot, marking a major technological breakthrough in the multi-billion-dollar Black hair and protective styling industry.
The funding round was led by Seven Seven Six, the venture capital firm founded by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, with significant backing from institutional investors including AlleyCorp and Bling Capital.
The robotics startup enters the market with strong commercial demand, already attracting a waiting list of more than 7000 professional salons seeking to adopt the technology, signalling widespread confidence in its potential to transform the beauty industry.
HaloBraid is not designed to replace hairstylists but to work alongside them as a collaborative robot, or "cobot," reducing the physical burden associated with one of the most labour-intensive aspects of braiding while significantly cutting appointment times.
Ogunbiyi's innovation is expected to reshape the protective styling industry by helping salons serve more clients, increasing earnings for stylists, and addressing long-standing occupational health challenges faced by professional braiders.
The Nigerian-American entrepreneur combines world-class academic training with practical engineering expertise. She holds a joint Master of Science and Master of Business Administration (MS/MBA) degree from Harvard Engineering School and Harvard Business School.
Before launching HaloBraid, Ogunbiyi built smart kitchen appliances and Internet of Things (IoT) devices, focusing on connected consumer technologies before turning her attention to the beauty industry.
The inspiration for HaloBraid came during the COVID-19 pandemic after Ogunbiyi spent four exhausting days installing her own knotless braids at home.
The experience exposed a glaring technological gap in the booming global Black hair industry, prompting her to partner with co-founder David Afolabi to develop a scalable robotic solution capable of assisting professional braiders rather than replacing them.
Unlike fully automated systems aimed at eliminating human jobs, HaloBraid was specifically engineered to complement the expertise of professional stylists.
The robot sits beside the braider and performs the repetitive mid-shaft weaving movements that account for nearly 80 percent of the physical labour involved in traditional knotless braid appointments.
Under the HaloBraid process, the stylist first manually parts the client's scalp, sections the hair and creates the foundational anchor knot to preserve proper edge tension and maintain styling precision.
Once that stage is completed, HaloBraid takes over the repetitive down-shaft weaving process, dramatically reducing the time required to complete knotless braids—cutting appointment durations by approximately half.
The stylist then disconnects the robotic device to finish the hairstyle by sealing, trimming and styling the braid ends according to the client's preferred look.
Speaking about the technology, Ogunbiyi stressed that HaloBraid enhances rather than diminishes the salon experience.
"I don't think anything will get lost from the experience. If anything, it enriches it. Technology simply assists with the repetitive movements that consume the most time and place the greatest strain on the body," Ogunbiyi, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of HaloBraid, said.
Beyond improving efficiency and allowing salons to potentially double the number of clients they serve each day, HaloBraid is also designed to tackle a major occupational health crisis affecting professional braiders.
Years of repetitive braiding motions have left many hairstylists suffering from early-onset carpal tunnel syndrome, chronic arthritis, wrist injuries, shoulder pain and severe spinal strain caused by prolonged hours of physically demanding work.
By automating the most repetitive portion of the braiding process, HaloBraid reduces the mechanical stress placed on stylists, helping to extend the careers of independent beauty professionals while improving their overall working conditions.
The innovation also responds to growing consumer demand for faster protective styling services.
According to survey data cited by the company, 95 percent of Black women said they would wear protective hairstyles more frequently if salon appointments did not require spending an entire day in the chair.
With the successful $7 million fundraising round and thousands of salons already waiting to deploy the technology, HaloBraid is positioning itself as one of the most significant innovations in the global beauty industry.
For Ogunbiyi, the investment represents more than funding for a robotics startup.
It signals growing confidence that technology can solve longstanding challenges within the Black hair care market while unlocking billions of hours of productivity for consumers, creating healthier careers for stylists and accelerating innovation in an industry worth billions of dollars globally.