Earlier this month, we shared details about for emerging food, beverage, and health brands. Now, Walmart is opening applications for Open Call 2025, one of the most established and impactful retail pitch opportunities in the country.
Open Call is Walmart’s flagship event for suppliers with products made, grown, or assembled in the U.S. It gives founders a rare opportunity to pitch directly to Walmart and Sam’s Club buyers. For many early-stage consumer brands, it’s a meaningful chance to fast-track national distribution.
Walmart is reviewing two types of applications:
Selected brands will receive 30-minute one-on-one meetings with Walmart or Sam’s Club buyers. These sessions have led to local store trials, regional rollouts, and full national launches.
More than 60 percent of Walmart’s U.S. suppliers are small businesses, and hundreds got their start through Open Call. Increasingly, brands we work with at Lunr are exploring Walmart as a strategic retail channel because of the company’s national footprint, omnichannel reach, and growing infrastructure for supporting emerging suppliers.
Walmart’s continued investment in early-stage brands is backed by strong performance. The company’s stock rose 72 percent in 2024 and is up another 16 percent so far in 2025, reflecting investor confidence in its long-term retail and supplier strategy.
To help small businesses succeed in the Walmart ecosystem, the company recently introduced Grow With Us, a new support program that complements opportunities like Open Call. The program is optional and includes:
Grow With Us helps small brands navigate the complexities of large-scale retail and build the foundation for long-term success.
One of last year’s standout Open Call moments came from Smackin’, a Minneapolis-based sunflower seed company. After pitching their low-sodium, flavor-packed snacks, the team received a “golden ticket” from Walmart’s export buyer for Canada.
Smackin’ is a lean team of just eight people, but they’re ready to scale. With Canadian distribution underway and U.S. Walmart buyers now in conversation, the brand is a great example of how Open Call can open real doors for emerging suppliers.
The Lunr Capital team will be in Bentonville this September, hosting the emerging brand collective. If you want to chat with a small group of venture capitalists that , we would love to connect!