Walmart announces strategic pilots with India-based startups

Walmart partners with Indian startups for innovative solutions to enhance U.S. supply chain efficiency and sustainability.

America's mega retail chain Walmart has announced strategic pilots with India-based startups to provide solutions for its U.S. supply chain and sourcing operations.

“Tech innovation is what drives real-world solutions to move forward a globally resilient supply chain. By collaborating with global innovators, we’re leveraging fresh ideas to build a more resilient supply network,” said Kyle Carlyle, Vice President of sourcing Innovation & Surety of Supply, at Walmart.

The three startups selected for pilot programmes include Pune-based KBCols Sciences, Chennai-based GreenPod Labs, and Bengaluru-based Cropin, a media release said, adding that these companies participated in the Walmart Growth Summit last year.

Solutions from each will help drive innovation at scale across Walmart’s supply chains, the release said.

The pilot programmes will test solutions that augment the availability of better and more fresh products for Walmart’s consumers in the U.S. and around the world, reduce product waste, and create sustainable alternatives for intermediate products used in manufacturing processes such as synthetic textile dyes to reduce environmental impact, the media release said.

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“As a people-led, tech-powered company, we are always looking for new ways to innovate. These three brands demonstrate our innovation goals across both the food and textile industry,” Carlyle said.