Halo announced that it has raised $7 million in funding to launch HaloBraid, a braid assist device designed for professional stylists.
Halo is a technology company creating products for textured hair. The company’s first product, HaloBraid, uses patent-pending technology to help stylists complete braids faster, more consistently, and with less pulling.
HaloBraid is designed to support stylists while preserving their creative control. Stylists start each braid by hand, and the device finishes the braid up to 5x faster while matching the stylist’s braid style.
The company said braiding remains one of the world’s oldest and most labor-intensive beauty practices. Halo noted that an estimated 8 billion hours are spent braiding hair each year, with some appointments lasting six hours or longer. The manual process can also contribute to physical strain for stylists, including carpal tunnel syndrome and early-onset arthritis.
HaloBraid was developed to improve salon economics by reducing the time required to complete braiding appointments. In a survey of 2,000 braid wearers, Halo found that 95% would get their hair braided more often if the process were faster.
The seed round was led by Seven Seven Six, the venture capital firm founded by Alexis Ohanian. AlleyCorp and Bling Capital also participated in the round.
The funding will support product development, stylist testing, manufacturing readiness, and salon partnerships as Halo prepares to bring HaloBraid to market.
Halo was founded by Yinka Ogunbiyi, a biomechanical engineer and repeat hardware founder. The idea for HaloBraid came from Ogunbiyi’s personal experience wearing braids and seeing the time and labor involved in the craft. During the pandemic, she braided her own hair for the first time, a process that took four days.
Before founding Halo, Ogunbiyi co-founded Desora, where she co-invented six patented smart cooking devices and helped bring advanced consumer hardware to market. She holds a BSc, MS, and MBA from Harvard.
Longer term, Halo plans to develop a broader portfolio of technology designed to address unmet needs for people with textured hair globally.
KEY QUOTES:
“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.”
“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.”
“Innovation in this category is long overdue. 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.”
Yinka Ogunbiyi, Founder and CEO of Halo
“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. Halo has introduced a novel technology to a manual and highly specialized professional service.”
Alexis Ohanian, General Partner at Seven Seven Six
