Tressfecta’s Plait Pilot Aims to Ease Hair Braiding for Stylists

Aisata Diallo, a lifelong braider, started Tressfecta after finding limited access to braiders and textured-hair specialists while studying at Northeastern University in Boston. She said the physical toll of braiding led her to stop.

A single braided style can take eight hours. The work is manual, and stylists may experience cramping and carpal tunnel syndrome after long days standing and weaving hair. Separating hair from packs before braiding can also take hours, particularly for small braids.

Tressfecta’s first project, Plait Pilot, is designed to help with that preparation. A stylist places braiding hair on the device and sets the desired separation size. The tool separates the hair and dispenses the pieces for the stylist to pick up while braiding.

Diallo said the device must account for differences in textured hair, including length and density, and that the process is challenging to build for. Tressfecta is pre-launch and working on a Plait Pilot prototype.

Diallo has bootstrapped the company and received funding through grant and accelerator programs. She is preparing to fundraise and said raising money for hardware, especially beauty hardware, can be difficult. The company is connecting with stylists and braiders to test the technology. Tressfecta was also among TechCrunch’s Battlefield 200 companies, and Diallo attended TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco to meet people and show the product.