October 21, 2025
Deemed the “Halo Braid,” the braiding device helps stylists by decreasing the time wanted to finish the favored type.
The invention of a hair-braiding robotic has received a startup competitors at Harvard Innovation Labs.
The 2025 President’s Innovation Problem Winner topped Halo Braid as its newest winner. The competitors, performed at Harvard, challenges alumni and college students from its 13 faculties to current modern concepts that would remodel industries. In its Alumni + Associates Open Observe, the highest prize went to the game-changing Halo Braid.
Halo Braid’s inventors, Harvard Enterprise College’s Yinka Ogunbiyi and David Afolabi, hope to chop braiding time by half. With the introduction of the braiding robotic, they purpose for braiders and their purchasers to avoid wasting money and time, boosting effectivity and dashing up the prolonged course of.
@harvardinnovationlabs Meet 2025 President’s Innovation Problem Winner: Halo Braid. Halo Braid is decreasing hair braiding time from six hours to minutes, empowering hair stylists to double their enterprise. Watch to see how innovation is reworking an trade that hasn’t modified in hundreds of years.
The pitch instantly garnered consideration by mentioning the struggles of conventional hair-braiding in the present day.
“What if each time you bought your hair lower, it took six hours, value $200 to $300, and gave your hair stylist arthritis at age 2? That is what it’s wish to get your hair braided. And I do know this primary hand as a result of I’ve worn braids all my life,” shared Ogunbiyi.
She continued, “Hair braiding is now the most well-liked coiffure for 20 million People who expertise this depressing course of each eight weeks. And but, braiding hasn’t seen innovation since braiding was invented 5000 years in the past.”
The patent-pending hair braiding robotic assists braiders by ending the braids they begin. This helps not solely lower styling time by hours, but in addition ensures each events can scale back time within the salon for the protecting type.
“Stylists begin the braid. Halo finishes it. We scale back braiding time from hours to minutes, making braiding joyful, not painful, and permitting a stylist to develop their enterprise with out destroying our arms,” added Ogunbiyi.
In accordance with Customized Market Insights, the worldwide hair braiding market is predicted to achieve a market valuation of over $625 million by 2032. Now, Halo Braid hopes to capitalize on this rising development by serving to stylists scale back braiding time whereas not forsaking high quality.
Ogunbiyi defined, “Our units have achieved 1000s of braids and braided full hairstyles like mine for the previous yr, and we use machine studying to match skilled high quality, however to do it 5 occasions sooner.”
At present, Halo Braid has a waitlist for professionals and novice braiders to raise their companies. With this win, Halo Braid can use this funding to carry their thought to fruition, eternally altering the various hairstyling panorama.
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