Halo Raises $7 Million To Launch HaloBraid For Professional Stylists

Halo, a technology company focused on products for textured hair, raised $7 million to launch HaloBraid, a braid assist device designed for professional stylists.

“Halo, a technology company focused on products for textured hair, has raised $7 million in seed funding to support the launch of HaloBraid, a braid assist device designed to help professional stylists complete braiding services more efficiently while reducing physical strain”

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HaloBraid uses patent-pending technology to help stylists complete braids faster, more consistently, and with less pulling, while stylists start each braid by hand and the device finishes the braid up to 5x faster.

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The company said braiding remains one of the world’s oldest and most labor-intensive beauty practices, with an estimated 8 billion hours spent braiding hair each year and some appointments lasting six hours or longer.

In a survey of 2,000 braid wearers, Halo found that 95% would get their hair braided more often if the process were faster, and it framed the manual process as contributing to physical strain for stylists including carpal tunnel syndrome and early-onset arthritis.

HaloBraid is designed to automate the most repetitive portion of the braiding process while preserving the stylist’s creative control, with stylists beginning the braid manually and the device completing the remaining work.

TechCrunch described the workflow as a stylist starting the braiding and then handing off the process to HaloBraid, which can finish the rest of the braid in seconds.

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In her own account to TechCrunch, Yinka Ogunbiyi recalled that during the COVID-19 pandemic she was stuck alone in her London apartment and tried braiding her own hair, saying, "It took me four days."

Ogunbiyi also said the product is meant to be gentle on the hair and can help finish both knotless and box braids, while her research estimated that people spend 8 billion hours braiding hair each year and that 95% of respondents would braid more often if it took less time.

The seed round was led by Alexis Ohanian’s venture capital firm Seven Seven Six, with participation from AlleyCorp and Bling Capital, and Halo said the funding will support product development, stylist testing, manufacturing readiness, and salon partnerships.

Ohanian told TechCrunch that he looks for founders who see something broken that everyone else has accepted as fixed, adding, "Braiding is a perfect example: it is a process that has not materially changed in thousands of years."

Halo positioned HaloBraid as the first product in a broader technology platform, with management saying the longer-term goal is to create breakthrough technology that makes textured hair care faster, easier, more comfortable, and more joyful.

TechCrunch reported that HaloBraid is slated to launch later this year, and it said the company will use the fresh funding for product development, manufacturing, and securing salon partnerships as it prepares for launch day.