The funding round was led by Seven Seven Six, the venture capital firm founded by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, with significant backing from institutional investors including AlleyCorp and Bling Capital.
Nigerian-American biomechanical engineer and Harvard University graduate, Yinka Ogunbiyi, has secured $7 million in seed funding to commercialise HaloBraid, the world's first patented braid-assist robot, marking a major technological breakthrough in the multi-billion-dollar Black hair and protective styling industry.
The funding round was led by Seven Seven Six, the venture capital firm founded by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, with significant backing from institutional investors including AlleyCorp and Bling Capital.
The robotics startup enters the market with strong commercial demand, already attracting a waiting list of more than 7000 professional salons seeking to adopt the technology, signalling widespread confidence in its potential to transform the beauty industry.
HaloBraid is not designed to replace hairstylists but to work alongside them as a collaborative robot, or "cobot," reducing the physical burden associated with one of the most labour-intensive aspects of braiding while significantly cutting appointment times.
