Walmart CEO John Furner engages India's digital-first founders to boost global expansion

New Delhi [India], May 10 : Walmart is deepening its commitment to India's digital-first consumer brands, as President and CEO John Furner met with founders and business leaders in New Delhi on Sunday to discuss scaling brands both domestically and internationally.

The closed-door interaction brought together entrepreneurs from beauty and personal care, food and beverages, lifestyle and apparel, fragrances and pet care, alongside Walmart and Flipkart leadership.

"Spending time with founders building consumer brands in India was energizing," said John Furner, President and CEO, Walmart Inc. "What stands out is their ambition to build for both India and the world, and the focus they bring to quality, innovation, and customer experience." Furner added that Walmart is "committed to supporting this journey by helping businesses scale and connecting them to customers across markets."

The discussion centred on founders' journeys in building brands, scaling through digital channels and expanding overseas. It also highlighted the growing role of marketplaces in enabling India's innovative brands to reach customers at scale. Founders shared insights on their product journeys and outlined what they need to accelerate their next phase of growth.

"Entrepreneurs today are building brands with stronger consumer understanding, greater ambition, and a long-term mindset," said Kalyan Krishnamurthy, Group CEO, Flipkart Group. "Platforms like Flipkart play an important role in helping these businesses grow by enabling market access, building capabilities, and creating pathways to scale across India." He reaffirmed Flipkart's commitment to supporting sellers "at every stage of their journey as they build trusted brands and grow their presence across markets."

Manish Joneja, Senior Vice President, Walmart Marketplace, said India's emerging brands are "combining strong product thinking with digital agility to scale at pace." He noted that founders are seeking "consistency across demand, operations, and market access," and added, "Our focus is on enabling these fundamentals through Walmart Marketplace and capability-building initiatives, so more businesses can grow with confidence and compete globally."

The engagement followed the Walmart Growth Summit - India 2026 held on May 7, which saw registrations from over 5,000 MSMEs, emerging brands and supply chain partners exploring domestic and global opportunities. The Summit underscored Walmart's long-term commitment to strengthening India's export ecosystem and enabling more Indian businesses to reach customers worldwide.

The founder meeting reflects Walmart's broader ambition to build a holistic ecosystem in India that combines capability-building, digital commerce, payments, sourcing and supply chain support. Through this, Walmart aims to create shared value by expanding economic opportunity for Indian entrepreneurs, sellers and suppliers while connecting them to customers in India and around the world. Founders from Aaryanveda, Bella Vita, Bhasha Bharat, Grover International & Grover Niryaat, Jugmugshoes, Khanal Foods, Little Rides, Organic Tattva, P-TAL, SVA Organics and Vahdam India attended the meeting.

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