Harvard graduate Yinka Ogunbiyi, creator of the automated HaloBraid device engineered to complete braids up to five times faster. Photo Credit: Yinka Ogunbiyi/Instagram
Nigerian-born engineer and Harvard graduate Yinka Ogunbiyi has taken the technology and beauty worlds by storm with HaloBraid, an automated braid-assist device designed to complete hand-started braids up to five times faster. Created alongside her co-founder, David Afolabi, HaloBraid recently won top honours and the $75,000 grand prize in the Alumni & Affiliates Open track at the 2025 Harvard President’s Innovation Challenge. Designed to support high-impact ventures emerging from Harvard’s global network, the annual competition celebrates ground-breaking solutions to real-world challenges. HaloBraid slashes traditional styling times from hours to minutes, reducing physical strain like carpal tunnel and back pain for braiders while allowing salons to comfortably double their daily clients.
The idea for HaloBraid came directly from Ogunbiyi’s personal experience as a braid enthusiast. During the COVID-19 lockdown, the Harvard-trained engineer spent four long days trying to install her own knotless braids. That tedious experience sparked a lightbulb moment: building smart engineering to handle the repetitive, time-consuming part of hair braiding while keeping the stylist completely in control of the craft.
The official design of HaloBraid, the world’s first automated braid-assist device launching commercially in autumn 2026. Photo Credit: Yinka Ogunbiyi/Instagram
Originally published by Bella Naija Beauty.