Alexis Ohanian has led a $7 million seed investment in HaloBraid, a robotics startup with one goal: cut braiding time from 12 hours to minutes.
The company was founded by Yinka Ogunbiyi, a Harvard-trained engineer. During lockdown, braiding her own hair took four full days. She decided to build a machine to solve the problem.
HaloBraid's first device works as a braiding assist: a stylist starts the pattern, then the robot finishes the braid in seconds. The tech works on both box braids and knotless styles. Ogunbiyi says it is designed to be gentle on hair.
Ohanian is married to Serena Williams, the tennis player known for her braided looks. He has two Black children who wear braids regularly.
"I've studied exactly how long these braiding sessions take," Ohanian told TechCrunch. "My oldest daughter loves the ritual for the first few hours, but by hour nine, everyone's ready to call it a night."
Research by Ogunbiyi found people spend an estimated 8 billion hours braiding hair annually. In a survey of 2,000 people, 95% said they would get braids more often if appointments took less time. Stylists face occupational hazards like carpal tunnel and arthritis from the repetitive work.
Ogunbiyi has not disclosed all technical details—patents are still pending—but the device is slated to launch later this year. Stylists and their clients are watching.
