“The collaboration between KBCols Sciences and Walmart marks a pivotal step towards transforming the textile industry with more sustainable dyeing solutions,” said Vaishali Kulkarni, CEO of KBCols Sciences
By Nileena Sunil
Three India-based startups have been selected for Walmart’s strategic pilot programs, the company announced on Monday, to provide solutions for the company’s U.S. supply chain and sourcing operations.
These three startups are Pune-based KBCols Sciences, Chennai-based GreenPod Labs and Bengaluru-based Cropkin.
KBCols Sciences is a biotech studio working on manufacturing non-GMO natural biocolours extracted from the vast biodiversity of India, while GreenPod Labs is an agri-biotech company developing sustainable solutions for food waste management. Cropin offers an AI-driven agricultural technology or AgTech platform that provides insights into crop yields, in order to enhance productivity and quality, and optimize resources.
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Solutions from these startups would be used to drive innovation at scale across Walmart’s supply chains. The pilot programs would test solutions that augment availability of better and fresher products for Walmart’s consumers, minimize waste, and create sustainable alternatives for products used in manufacturing, like synthetic textile dyes.
“The collaboration between KBCols Sciences and Walmart marks a pivotal step towards transforming the textile industry with more sustainable dyeing solutions,” said Vaishali Kulkarni, CEO of KBCols Sciences.
“Engaging with Walmart during the Walmart Growth Summit India and progressing towards a product pilot has been a great experience for our team. Working with a global player like Walmart revalidates the importance of our work in reducing fruits and vegetables post-harvest losses/ quality degradation. It’s been a great learning experience to interact with the sourcing and innovation team to understand the current challenges,” said Deepak Rajmohan, CEO of GreenPod Labs.
The pilot will test KBCols’ dyes and their properties on woven materials and jersey cottons, in an attempt to find more sustainable alternatives to synthetic dyes. Walmart, in collaboration with UC Davis will pilot GreenPod sachets—sachets filled with plant extract designed to enable produce to last longer—to evaluate their effectiveness. The program will also test Cropin’s AI technology on produce chains to enable better data accuracy that would help source perishable commodities more effectively.
Krishna Kumar, CEO of Cropin said in a statement, “At Cropin, we leverage next-generation technologies, from climate models to AI-driven solutions, to tackle these challenges head-on. By working with Walmart, we aim to build resilient and sustainable food systems.”
These three startups participated in the Walmart Growth Summit 2024 in India. The summit is part of a global series held in various countries like India, Chile and Mexico, that connects entrepreneurs, suppliers, and innovators with Walmart’s supply chain network. The participants are given a chance to present solutions focusing on sustainability, efficiency and innovation.
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This pilot program launches in collaboration with Walmart Global Tech’s Sparkubate program, a startup collaboration program that provides select startups with a 12-16 week paid pilot engagement and the potential for future partnership on successful completion.
Vice President of Sourcing Innovation & Surety of Supply of Walmart Kyle Carlyle said in a statement, “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. 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.”