<div><strong>What is Braid?</strong>

</div>

<div>Braid is an educational app designed to make textured hair care simple, accessible, and empowering. With interactive courses, personalized advice, and trusted resources, Braid helps users confidently care for and style textured hair. Whether you're new to your hair journey, a seasoned stylist, or just eager to learn, Braid is here to guide you.

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<div><strong>The Problem</strong>

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<div>People with textured hair have long faced a lack of clear, inclusive education. Many salons turn them away due to limited stylist training. Beauty school curriculums often exclude textured hair entirely. While online resources exist, they’re scattered, unclear, or unreliable.

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<div><strong>The Solution</strong>

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<div>Braid bridges this gap by providing:

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<ul>

<li>Expert-led interactive courses

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<li>Step-by-step video tutorials

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<li>AI chatbot for real-time guidance

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<li>Personal profiles to track learning

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<li>An explore page curated to your needs

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<li>A shop with trusted products &amp; kits

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</ul>

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<div><strong>Who It's For</strong>

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<ul>

<li>People with textured hair

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<li>Aspiring and professional stylists

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<li>Parents learning to care for their child’s hair

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<li>Educators and beauty school students

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</ul>

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<div><strong>Features at a Glance</strong>

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<ul>

<li><strong>Courses: </strong>Learn the basics and advanced techniques with structured modules

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<li><strong>AI Chatbot:</strong> Ask hair questions and get instant advice

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<li><strong>Shop:</strong> Curated products and starter kits

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<li><strong>Explore Page:</strong> Customized content based on your hair type and goals

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<li><strong>Favorites:</strong> Save tips, tutorials, and products to your profile

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</ul>

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<div><strong>Why Now?</strong>

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<div>Textured hair education isn’t just a personal need,it’s a social justice issue. By empowering people with knowledge, we dismantle beauty standards and foster cultural competence in the hair industry.

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<div><strong>Research + Development</strong>

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<div>We conducted user interviews, surveys, and usability testing with over 60 people from our target audience. Their feedback shaped every feature, from the onboarding experience to the chatbot language. Our design process followed a user-centric, iterative approach, ensuring accessibility and trust at every touchpoint.

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<div><strong>How We’ll Use the Funds</strong>

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<div>Your support will help us:

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<ul>

<li>Finalize app development

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<li>Produce 100+ high-quality tutorial videos

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<li>Expand our AI training and course materials

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<li>Pay our team of designers, developers, and stylists

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<li>Cover legal, trademark, and launch costs

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</ul>

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<div><strong>Timeline</strong>

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<ul>

<li>Research + Prototyping: Complete

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<li>App Development: In Progress

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<li>Video Production: Summer 2025

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<li> Beta Release: Fall 2025

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<li>Public Launch: Early 2026

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</ul>

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<div><strong>Impact Beyond Hair</strong>

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<div>By supporting Braid, you’re uplifting Black and Brown communities, encouraging industry reform, and challenging narrow beauty standards. You’re making textured hair care a universal right, not a luxury.

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<div><strong> Follow &amp; Share</strong>

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<ul>

<li>Website (Coming Soon)

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<li><a href="https://www.instagram.com/braid_tech/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Instagram</a> 

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<li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/braidglobal" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">LinkedIn</a> 

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<li><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@braid.global" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">TikTok</a> 

</li>

</ul>

ARETHA BROWN

Janae Reid

Jennifer Halperin

Becky Sanders

Tony Le

Radazaih Whittington

Jo-Nell Sieren

Fund the Future of Inclusive Hair Education with Braid

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

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NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

currencyCode

Money Box Donation List Prompt Experiment Audience

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

NPO upsell education category

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

NPO recommendations prod

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

Users Receiving Braze KYC Validation Failed

Native 11.3.0 and above

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

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Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

NPO upsell animals category

NPO upsell disaster relief category

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

NPO upsell essential needs category

NPO upsell medical category

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

NPO upsell cancer category

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Fund the Future of Inclusive Hair Education with Braid

Still $4,395 to go. Help us build momentum.