The future frontier of hair braiding

Hair Robotics offers better, faster, braids for everyone.

Future Frontier Capital is a preseed frontier technology venture capital fund.

I am often asked, “What is frontier technology?” And, “how do you define preseed?”

A few months ago, I was introduced to a talented entrepreneur, Mah Kadidia Konate. Beyond her experience as a lead data scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Labs, Kadidia is completing her MBA from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley. All while starting a very interesting robotics company called Hair Robotics.

Some of my students from the Coleman Fung Institute of Engineering Leadership at UC Berkeley worked with Hair Robotics for their capstone project, which is how I was introduced to Kadidia. At the capstone showcase last week, I met Kadidia and learned more about Hair Robotic’s technology.

When I lived in Senegal in the early 1990’s, I saw (mostly) women braiding other womens' hair. The process seemed to go on for hours and sometimes days. I remember bus rides where a woman would board the bus with half of her hair braided. I recall young girls crying while having their hair braided,  and I learned how painful it is for the client as well as the stylist who is doing the braiding. Issues like tendonitis and carpal tunnel syndrome are common for professional hair braiders.

Speaking with Kadidia, I realized that the long hours it takes to braid hair is inconvenient for women who might have to spend most of their weekend getting their hair braided. Moreover, when I spoke to my friend who has three daughters along with  a full time job, she said that she often spends weekends braiding her daughters’ hair. She also said it is very difficult to find experienced braiders. In short, I learned that the entire hair braiding process is not very pleasant for the women and girls getting their braids or the people that do the braiding.

Hair Robotics is the only company I am aware of addressing this problem. And based on Kadidia’s background in data science along with support from Professor Ronald Fearing, a UC Berkeley robotics expert, she aims to solve this problem.

The prototype Hair Robotics built improves hair-braiding efficiency by shortening a nine hour braiding session to one hour. Along with software that can be used to create new customized types of braid styles, colors, and other features, the solution has the potential to disrupt the beauty industry.

Hair Robotics is an example of the founders and companies we seek. First, the founder (Kadidia) is very bright, has a strong vision, and is adaptable. Second, the company is in its earliest stages of development. Although they have a prototype they are still bootstrapped. And finally, the problem Hair Robotics solves meets our criteria for frontier technology. We define frontier technology as disruptive or incremental technologies that increase efficiency or reduce waste.

Hair Robotics has a fascinating story and I look forward to following their progress. If you would like more information or to get in touch with Hair Robotics, please contact info@hairrobot.pro