Nigerian-American engineer Yinka Ogunbiyi has introduced HaloBraid, a braid-assist robot built to speed up one of the most time-consuming services in the beauty industry. Footage of the device has spread widely on social media, drawing both excitement and sharp questions.
What HaloBraid Does
HaloBraid is not a humanoid robot. It looks closer to the stand dryers already found in many salons. The stylist still starts each braid and handles the styling decisions. The machine takes over the repetitive middle section, which eats up most of a braiding appointment. According to the company’s website, it uses airflow to guide hair through braiding channels and keep the braid going.
Ogunbiyi has said the device is meant to work alongside stylists, not replace them. The company has not released detailed technical specifications because patents are still pending.
The Problem Behind the Machine
Box braids and knotless styles can take anywhere from six to twelve hours, which limits stylists to one or two clients a day. The work also strains the hands, wrists and back. Ogunbiyi, who holds an engineering degree and an MBA from Harvard, says she came to the problem during the COVID-19 pandemic, when she tried braiding her own hair in her London apartment and decided to treat the task as an engineering challenge.
Her research puts global braiding time at about eight billion hours a year. In a survey of 2,000 people, 95 percent said they would braid more often if it took less time.
From Prototype to Funding
Ogunbiyi built HaloBraid with co-founder David Afolabi. The pair reportedly went through 450 prototypes over 18 months. The startup won the 2025 Presidents Innovation Challenge, run by Harvard Innovation Labs for student and alumni ventures.
HaloBraid has since raised $7 million in seed funding led by Seven Seven Six, the venture firm co-founded by Alexis Ohanian. The company says it plans to launch its first product in salons later this year, and reports indicate more than 7,000 salons have joined its waitlist.
Praise and Pushback
Reactions to the demonstration video have been mixed. Some users predict strong commercial success. Others worry about hair damage, braid quality and how the machine will cope with different hair textures. Some simply say they will stay loyal to hand braiding. These concerns will only be settled once salons use the device on real clients.
What Comes Next
Ogunbiyi has said her ambition goes beyond one machine. She wants to build tools that make textured hair care faster and easier, and her team is already exploring a product for taking braids out, which can take almost as long as putting them in.
For Nigerian stylists and the wider African beauty economy, the real test is access. The company is UK-based, and nothing public yet shows when or whether HaloBraid will reach salons in Nigeria. Pricing, training for stylists and after-sales support will decide whether this becomes a tool for ordinary braiders or stays a premium novelty.
